CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Nashville Fire Department sent a delegation to personally thank the Bradley County Fire and Rescue Department for its help saving lives during the May flood in the Music City.
Nashville Fire Department Deputy Chief Danny Yates said his department could have written a letter, made phone calls or sent an e-mail.
"But a thank-you note wouldn't have been good enough," he said. "I'm here because of the face-to-face help and the hands-on work Bradley County extended to the city of Nashville."
The local department responded to a call for help by sending firefighters, including personnel trained as swift-water rescue experts.
"Usually departments of our size don't like to ask for help," Yates said.
But when the floodwaters came, "we found out in a big hurry we needed someone's help," he said.
During a presentation to county firefighters made at Monday's County Commission meeting, Yates recited the words to The Beatles' song "Help" to illustrate his point.
The Bradley rescuers were assigned to some of the most troublesome flood sites in the Nashville area, he said.
"We are confident they saved more civilians lives than I am aware of," Yates said.
East Ridge Fire Chief Eddie Phillips, president of the Tennessee Fire Chiefs Association, said Nashville's call for help was also the first big test for a new statewide mutual aid pact.
"After Katrina we saw the need for a statewide mutual aid plan to meet future wide-scale disasters," Phillips said. "That's what this Nashville flood turned out to be."
Bradley Fire and Rescue Chief Dewey Woody passed along kudos to the commission as well.
"You have allowed us, over the last 10 years, to build a world class fire and rescue unit," he said.
Contact Randall Higgins at rhiggins@timesfreepress.com or 423-314-1029.