Letting People Help

Millions of people around the country are crying out, "what can I do for people who suffered from Katrina?" This includes firefighters who travelled across the country to help. And what did our government do with them? Well, here's their story:

When a group of Indiana firefighters traveled to the Gulf Coast to help in the rescue efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, they thought their skills in rescuing people would be put to use.

But two firefighters came back to Portage because they learned their real skills weren't needed, NBC5's Phil Rogers reported.

In a document that went out from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency asked for firefighters with very specific skills and who were capable of working in austere conditions. When they got to a center in Atlanta, they found out their jobs would be public relations.

"Our job was to advertise a phone number for FEMA," said Portage Assistant Fire Chief Bill Lundy. "We were going to be given shirts and hats with a phone number on it and flyers, and sent to shelters, and we were going to pass out flyers."

Their PR activities also included posing with President Bush for photo ops.