Affton Firefighters Return from Joplin with Skills and Perspective

On May 22 a huge tornado measuring a 5 on the Fujita Scale ripped through the town of Joplin in southern Missouri, devastating an area roughly the size of Affton and killing 138. The next day, four firefighters and two paramedics from the traveled .

After a rendezvous with others joining the strike team, Affton’s Captain Ben Waser and firefighters Aaron Rhodes, Scott Manning and James Castro drove to Joplin overnight on May 23, took an hour of sleep, and got to work. The two paramedics, Don Woolem and Jordan Levinson, had gone in an ambulance earlier that morning.

“You have these super task-oriented jobs…after you get back here, all of a sudden you have time to think about the pictures in your head that you remember, and it’s like, holy cow,” Waser said, when he and Rhodes sat down with Patch this week.

, the firefighters describe a scene of massive devastation. The tornado pulverized trees and whole subdivisions. The tornado hit a hospital. Despite being in Tornado Alley, many homes did not have basements, and some residents rode out the storm in bathtubs that were flung blocks away.

“You can see for miles and miles, just all destruction,” Waser said.

Along with three firefighters from Fenton, the Affton firefighters spent their time searching through the rubble of a destroyed apartment complex. Though they had brought machines used in unpacking the fallen walls and roofs of collapsed buildings, Rhodes said that in Joplin the best tools they had were their hands—the tornado had reduced sturdy apartments to fist-sized chunks.

They worked nearly without sleep for two days. When they returned home they were given a day to recover physically and gather their thoughts.

“Mentally, it was exhausting. Physically, it was exhausting,” Rhodes said. “It was very humbling to know that these people were just living their lives, going about their business, and everything was just completely turned upside down.”

For Missouri firefighters, Joplin was a once-in-a-generation, hands-on experience with disaster relief. Rescue workers built relationships and working friendships with other first responders from around St. Louis and Missouri. They learned from strike team organizers who had worked with rescue and cleanup in New York City after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Rhodes and Waser said they returned to Affton with skills and best practices that will be invaluable if a tornado or earthquake were to hit Affton.

With that new experience and knowledge, Waser said he would be working with district leadership to refine Affton Fire’s disaster response practices and plans.

But Waser and Rhodes said that they also came home with new perspective and appreciation for their daily lives.

“I remember last week when I was upset becuase my washer machine was too loud. It really puts that stuff in perspective,” Waser said. “These guys don’t even have houses or clothes or anything to even wash. That affects you afterwards.”

Firefighters are used to the idea that their lives could be cut short while on the job, but they said a disaster of this magnitude doubly drills home the fragility of human life.

“We as human beings are not the strongest force out there,” Rhodes said.