Bridgestone Emergency Team Helps in Ike Clear-up

The Bridgestone Emergency Response Team – made up of volunteers who work for the tyre manufacturer – has pitched in to help clear the wreckage left in the wake of Hurricane Ike. The team travelled to Orange, Texas from its Nashville, Tennessee base to assist at the Firestone Polymers plant, which sustained heavy damage in the floods and high winds.

“While the focus of our BERT initiatives has always been to support emergency first responders, this effort is a bit unique,” Chuck Tarver, one of the BERT leaders, told American news sources. “We are actually relieving some of the burden to area first responders by helping our own teammates at our facility. In supporting our own family and business operations we are hopeful that we can get the Firestone Polymers Plan back in operation shortly.”

BERT was established shortly after Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, and has since helped several communities deal with natural disasters. In 2008, BERT worked alongside the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency in helping victims of tornadoes in Macon County, Tennessee, and when Hurricane Gustav hit the state, BERT provided a mobile communications centre for rescue teams and people needing to register for assistance programmes or call relatives.