A group of three Pasadena firefighters returned home Wednesday after spending a week volunteering in Puerto Rico, providing critical disaster relief to residents of the hurricane-devastated island.
Firefighter-paramedic Rich Roldan, Urban Search & Rescue Team member Justin Hester and firefighter O’Brian Malray teamed with the Pasadena-based nonprofit Reach Out WorldWide to bring fresh water, medical aid and whatever help they could to the suffering population of the unincorporated U.S. territory, Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.
“The island is completely destroyed. It’s devastated,” Hester said. No portion of the territory appeared to have been spared the destruction.
From destroyed homes and businesses to impassable roads and bridges ripped from their support pillars, “it’s the same devastation throughout the whole island,” Hester said.