Amid Illinois-Texas acrimony, here’s a look at how a Huntley fire official aided Texas flood response

A Huntley fire district official worked on Texas flood response efforts for two weeks in July, serving as a medical manager for her team during that time.

Huntley Fire Protection District Lt. Kelly Gitzke was deployed with the MABAS Illinois Task Force 1, working with responders from across the state. Gitzke was the only fire official from a McHenry County agency who was deployed to Texas.

“After 24 years in this profession, being able to assist people in their time of greatest need is something I will never take lightly,” Gitzke said in a news release. “It was hard to see the damage and heartbreak, but I’m proud of how our team supported the community and one another throughout.”

The task force supported local agencies in communities that were overwhelmed by the flash floods in early July.

Gitzke was the team’s medical manager, and some of her duties included taking care of personnel on the ground and making sure her teammates were OK. She worked with doctors who supported the team virtually. Doctors are sometimes deployed with the team, but this time they provided daily support remotely.

Gitzke and her teammates returned to the MABAS Readiness Center in Wheeling July 26, with family, friends and fire service members on hand to greet them, according to the release.

Gitzke and her teammates were based in Leander, Texas, at first before traveling west to “heavily impacted communities” in Kerr County, according to the release. Kerr County, about 60 miles northwest of San Antonio, had the most deaths in the July flash floods, according to the Associated Press.

Responders encountered long hours, unstable conditions and “persistent extreme heat” on the mission, according to the release.

Rashes, poison ivy and other minor injuries were common, Gitzke said. Dehydration was among the top health concerns, with heat indexes in the triple digits.

But the team also took preventive measures, including wearing special snake protection gear and carry walking sticks.

Texas was not Gitzke’s first deployment; she also went to Louisiana in 2021 to help with Hurricane Ida relief efforts. The tasks the team performed during Ida relief included checking for people and making sure they had what they needed, Gitzke said.

But she said Ida was “nothing compared to this devastation” she witnessed in Texas. There, Gitzke said, searching through debris was among the hardest parts of the deployment.

Gitzke’s participation in the Texas deployment “reflects the broader commitment shared by departments across Illinois to step in when help is needed most. The Huntley Fire Protection District is grateful for the collaboration, planning, and statewide support that made the response possible and allowed MABAS Illinois Task Force 1 to carry out its mission safely and effectively,” according to the release.

Gitzke, in addition to being the mobile integrated health coordinator at the Huntley Fire Protection District, is a registered nurse and currently works in the immediate care unit at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital near Barrington. Her role at the fire department includes following up on 911 calls.

Although the two roles are completely separate, Gitzke said she finds her nursing background to be helpful each day in her job at the fire district.

Gitzke’s team that went to Texas was activated through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact. The compact has been passed by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and focuses on mutual aid among states and territories during emergencies, according to the Federal Emergency Management website.

The mutual assistance across state lines, with Illinois helping Texas during a natural disaster, is in stark contrast with the current political stalemate between the two states, with Illinois hosting Democratic state lawmakers from Texas as they attempt to avoid a remapping vote.

While the mutual assistance team is back, “the work is far from over for the devastated communities in Texas. Recovery will take time, and the thoughts of those who responded remain with the families and first responders who continue to face the aftermath,” according to the release.

The flash floods along the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 135 people over the July 4 holiday weekend, according to the Associated Press. Destructive, fast-moving waters rose 26 feet on the Guadalupe just before daybreak July 4.

“The floods laid waste to the Hill Country, a popular tourist destination where campers seek out spots along the river amid the rolling landscape. It is naturally prone to flash flooding because its dry, dirt-packed soil cannot soak up heavy rain,” the AP reported.