By DON NORFLEET
Matt Dodd of Fulton went to the Springfield area last weekend for a friend's wedding.
But in the next few days he was serving both as a volunteer fireman and as a newly deployed member of the Missouri National Guard assisting Joplin tornado victims.
As a volunteer fireman with the Central Fire Protection District in Fulton, Dodd decided to take his fire-fighting gear with him to the Springfield area and ride along Sunday afternoon with a friend at the Logan-Rogersville Fire Protection District.
"The Logan-Rogersville volunteers received a radio call for mutual aid to deal with the massive tornado in Joplin. So we started driving to Joplin," Dodd said.
But the trip to Joplin wasn't easy. Interstate 44 leading into Joplin was clogged with overturned vehicles and other debris from the tornado.
"Eight of us from the Logan-Rogersville fire protection district performed search and rescue duties in Joplin for 36 continuous hours," Dodd said.
Dodd said he and the seven other firemen in his group worked mainly the fringe area of the disaster. They checked the well-being of people in homes to determine if they had any problems or injuries that required assistance.