Declaration of Local Disaster Emergency in Linton Following Tornado Damage

From Linton Fire Deparmtent

'We have been severely busy over the last 24hrs, but would like to personally thank the Firefighters of the department for their dedication to the Community. They did a tremendous job last night. They rescued 5 individuals from one of the collapsed buildings and completed searches of all damaged downtown buildings. I would also like to thank the Linton Police Department and all the other Departments that assisted or offered to assist with the storm. Wright Twp FD, Switz City FD, Union (Dugger) FD, Newberry FD, Sullivan FD, Thunderbird FD, Honey Creek FD, Greene Co Sheriff Office, Greene County Ambulance Service, Worthington PD, Greene Co EMA, Sullivan Co EMA, Knox Co EMA, and IDHS.

As many of you already know, Linton has been hit with another tornado. This time, Linton was hit in the heart of downtown. Crews have been out surveying the affected areas last night and today. Tomorrow, crews will be out again, with work including:

1. State Fire Marshall’s service is providing personnel to assist Linton Fire Chief with evaluating the Safety of the affected downtown buildings.

2. Knox Co EMA, Sullivan Co EMA, and Putnam Co CERT will have crews to complete damage assessments on all damaged properties. They will be collecting this for the IDHS. There has been a self-reporting system setup through 211.

3. American Red Cross has been assisting with displaced residents, starting last night. There will be reps at the Fire Station again tomorrow. If you are displaced and have no place to go, please reach out and your information will be forwarded to the appropriate individuals.

Mayor Preble has signed a Declaration of Emergency for Linton.

Please stay out of the downtown affected area until it is cleared for pedestrian and vehicle traffic. It is still unsafe for individuals to be in the area.

Currently we are looking at approx 100-200 damaged structures (Commercial and Residential). There have been several displaced persons from the damages. Unfortunately there were some injuries, but they were minor.

We will keep you updated as we know more.

James Phillips, Interim Fire Chief