Hazel Green, AL (WAFF) -
A Hazel Green couple has loaded up a trailer full of supplies to take to first responders battling wildfires in Oklahoma.
Mark and Kathy Hooper will drive 10 hours to Tulsa with food, clothing and non-perishable items.
The couple started "A Thin Line" to help first responders in emergency situations. They began stock piling supplies after tornados hit the Tennessee Valley in March. Kathy Hooper said people were able to give back to the organization after getting on their feet. They now hold the supplies in case of emergencies.
"If there should be a disaster like a tornado or a fire or an injury, God forbid, then we would be ready to go in and be first responders for first responders," she said.
Kathy said someone called them and asked for their help in Oklahoma.
"We were contacted by a group out in Oklahoma saying that none of the units out there or the support groups that they had had anything stock piled. They had gotten help for the community, but then everyone who was evacuating the wildfires, there's nothing left for them."
Mark and Kathy have both worked for public safety. Kathy is a former police officer with Alabama A&M, Owens Cross Roads and has worked with the Morgan County Sheriff's Office. Mark was with HEMSI for 18 years. The two have been holding donated supplies like furniture, clothes and non perishable items at a storage unit in Hazel Green.
Kathy said she's grateful to have the supplies to help her public safety family.
"They've had at least 10 police officers, eight fire fighters and 10 paramedics that were working at the time to evacuate the community and all of their houses are burned. You have church groups, you have civil groups that will roll in their and help out the general community after you've evacuated, but then nobody thinks of the ones that were the boots on the ground at the time that it occurred."
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