Cedar Rapids firefighters return after working to contain bird flu

CEDAR RAPIDS - Some Cedar Rapids firefighters recently took center stage in the battle against the bird flu.

Although the outbreak has died down, the work to regain what was lost continues in western Iowa.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture reports 77 incidents in Iowa, spread across 18 counties. Nearly 32 million chickens and turkeys had to be killed in the state. The last reported bird flu case was on June 17.

Throughout the summer, firefighters worked with farmers affected by the bird flu and other experts on how to stop its spread. Governor Branstad delcared a state of emergency in May in response to the outbreak. That declaration was later extended beyond its initial timeframe as the flu continued to infect Iowa farms.

Seven members of the Cedar Rapids Fire Department left the city for weeks. They're part of the Iowa HAZMAT Task Force, which means they have specialized training in dealing with hazardous material - including biohazards.

Cedar Rapids firefighters train to stay prepared for everything. No matter how much training they do, one leader said he did not ever expect to put some of his skills to use.

'As much as I taught about the Animal Disease Response Course, I never thought - the last place that it would happen would be here in Iowa,” said Iowa HAZMAT Task Force President Captain Mike Cheney.

Captains Mike Cheney and Josh Jensen are just a couple of the Cedar Rapids firefighters that recently deployed to western Iowa. They worked to contain the avian flu as it impacted farm after farm.

'To go out there and see farms that produce millions of eggs on a daily basis was very surprising, and it really brings home the fact that what we are doing is very important not only for Iowa, but for the country,” said Iowa HAZMAT Task Force Member and Cedar Rapids Fire Captain Josh Jensen. Officials said the outbreak ranks as the state's worst animal health emergency, and estimated in June it could cost federal and state agencies $300 million.

The pair focused on guiding workers in a strict step-by-step process.

Cheney worked at the command post, considering every detail of the process of cleaning up infected farms.

'We would look at each site individually and come up with a written plan and diagram it out on this is how we want to do it,” Captain Cheney said.

That includes everything from getting rid of the sick animals to testing farms for the disease.

The process included a detailed cleaning process.

'We set up a decontamination line where we would do a three-step decontamination, vehicles entering or exiting a facility would be cleaned of all contaminants,” Captain Jensen said.

Now that they're back home, they look back and say they believe they helped control the spread of the avian flu.

'I think we fought a good fight, and we did what we could and I think we made a difference,” Captain Cheney said.

Cheney said farms have to sit for a period of 21 days before workers can repopulate them. During that time, all of the tests have to show no traces of the bird flu.

He said by the end of the month all but about 15 sites should be in that waiting period, meaning the state will see a lot of impacted farms getting birds again in coming weeks.

l Comments: 319-398-8268; jill.kasparie@kcrg.com