More than just fighting fires: Warsaw fire official helps with Lake Village tornado cleanup

WARSAW, Ind. -- Wayne Fire Territory Assistant Chief Will Kornrumph showed up at his fire station last Wednesday expecting a normal day.

However, at a moment's notice, he was dispatched more than two hours away to Lake Village, Indiana, to be a safety officer for a community dealing with the fresh devastation of an EF-3 tornado.

“It was jaw-dropping for the most part, just the amount of devastation that they witnessed and went through,” Kornrumph recalled.

Winds of 150 miles per hour carved a path of destruction through the small Newton County community.

“The amount of trees that were toppled down and taken down, and they looked like how you throw toothpicks on the floor,” Kornrumph added.

Dozens of homes and business were left mangled messes, and tragically, two people were killed. Assistant Chief Kornrumph was put in charge of overall safety for the incident.

“My job was keeping everybody that's on the ground safe; you know, looking at the different types of weather, and make sure there's no more storms coming in,” Kornrumph explained.

Kornrumph spent four days in Lake Village, coordinating clean-up efforts and helping distribute food and clothing to storm survivors. While the road to recovery for the town is long, Kornrumph got back to Warsaw on Saturday with hope in his heart.

“It's going to be a long process for them,” Kornrumph said. “But everybody worked well, together, communicated, and it was just like working with a family, trying to move forward.”

Despite all the damage and debris that needed to be taken care of, Kornrumph said what the people of Lake Village needed most from him was someone to talk to, and a reassuring voice telling them that they will get through this.