Pensacola Fire Department volunteers return from Hurricane Helene relief efforts in Gilchrist County, Florida

PENSACOLA, Fla. ( WKRG ) — Hurricane Helene made landfall one week ago today, and four firefighters on Pensacola Fire Deputy Chief Justin Hoard’s team saw the damage from the storm firsthand as they responded to help out with the damage in Gilchrist County.

Chief Howard shared how his crew has helped communities impacted by the storm, noting that in the past, restoring power has caused homes to catch on fire.

“Whenever the power started to come back on, they had a lot of fires in houses that kind of overwhelmed the local resources so same thing, they had widespread power outage, so they wanted to go ahead and get in front of the potential structure fires,” said Chief Hoard.

Luckily this year, no fires had to be put out, but the crew was ready in case of an emergency.

Chief Hoard said his four crew members were also assisting with tree removal and excess water damages on major roads throughout Gilchrist County.

The crew returned home Wednesday morning, News 5 has learned.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.