SULLIVAN, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Sullivan City Fire Chief, Rob Robertson, said this is one of the worst disasters that he has ever been involved in.

“We’ve not had a disaster like this as long as I’ve been here,” Robertson said.

Robertson recalls the moment he arrived on scene as the first responder, “one of the first ones that I saw was the VFW. They had some people trapped inside it. We were able to get in there and get them out safely. It was horrific to see but we were glad we were able to get the people out that were trapped and get them out to safety.

Robertson said that as a firefighter you train for these types of disasters. But even with training he says this is something you feel ready for.

Communication was difficult as phone lines were down. Firefighters couldn’t communicate back and forth with dispatch.

Chief Robertson was thankful that fire fighters from all over came to their aid in the aftermath of the storm. Even with lack of communication in the area, Robertson said that area departments still managed to show up and assist. Something Sullivan officials are grateful for.

“We didn’t only have our county fire departments here, but we had out of county fire departments come in and help with all different kinds of search and rescues,” Robertson said. “It was really appreciated for them to come out and help us with all that stuff,” he added.

Robertson said they had two firefighters who lost their homes from the storm.