On September 4, 2005, Herbert Giovanni Leusch-Carnaroli, MA ’99, received a call. The New Orleans Fire Department, desperately in need of aid after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, was reaching out to volunteer fire departments all over the country.
in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
As a battalion chief of the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department in Montgomery County, Md., Leusch-Carnaroli was asked to co-lead the county’s contingent. Seventy-seven personnel, four fire engines, two trucks, ten ambulances, and two command vehicles left Maryland with a SWAT team escort the morning of September 5 to travel 1,200 miles to New Orleans.
In New Orleans, Leusch-Carnaroli worked 24-hour shifts, even when he was not on duty. Most days he served as the Maryland task force leader, and while off duty – still hard at work – he operated as the logistics sector chief with five branch chiefs reporting to him. His efforts paid off. During his stay, the emergency task force reopened three fire stations and helped local firefighters assess the damage to their homes. On September 11, Leusch-Carnaroli met and shook hands with President Bush in New Orleans.
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Herbert Giovanni Leusch-Carnaroli, MA ’99,
takes a break with a couple of New Orleans firefighters. |
Herbert Giovanni Leusch-Carnaroli, MA ’99,
has an opportunity to meet President Bush. |
Leusch-Carnaroli is proud to have played a part in rebuilding the fire services in New Orleans. “The biggest satisfaction for me was from the expression of gratitude from New Orleans firefighters,” he says, “Simple acts made such a difference in their lives.”
