ROCHELLE — Rochelle Fire Department Chief Dave Sawlsville was called last Friday night to help with response efforts after an EF3 tornado struck an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, killing six and causing multiple injuries. 

Sawlsville is part of an incident management assistance team for large-scale events that are going to last over a period of days. Officials like him are called to help relieve local command team members that have worked long hours. 

“I was called and asked if I could go at 10 p.m. on Friday night,” Sawlsville said. “I said absolutely. I went down with three other guys to try and support the fire chief and his command structure. They do the first response. We don't go and take over the scene. We're just there to help with anything they need.”

When Sawlsville first got the call, there were up to 100 people stuck in the Amazon building. He was updated during his trip to southern Illinois and by the time he got there, seven people were still unaccounted for. One was later found to be not at work that day and safe. 

Sawlsville praised Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford for his command of the situation. 

“He had plenty of resources, good accountability and a good operation going,” Sawlsville said. “He'd also been at it for six hours by the time I got there. He was able to leave and get some rest and food. I'm sure he probably didn't sleep, nobody would be able to, but at least he was able to disengage a little bit and come back with some fresh perspective.” 

Sawlsville responded in a similar capacity to the ChemTool fire in Rockton in June. He was there and in Edwardsville to be an extra pair of hands and eyes and to offer suggestions. In Edwardsville, first responders’ plan was to find the last missing individual before turning the building back over to Amazon. They did just that. Sawlsville was relieved of duty and returned to Rochelle after about 30 hours in Edwardsville. 

Rochelle’s fire chief described the damage he saw at the Amazon facility. The tornado didn’t touch power lines that ran across the front of the building, but cut a path through the middle of the fulfillment center. There were intact buildings to the left and right, and a 100-yard path left in between by the tornado. On the back side of the building, “huge” tension power lines were “decimated” by the storm. 

“It's a big building,” Sawlsville said. “They have to have water retention ponds. A car was picked up and thrown into one and there was building materials in there. The level of destruction was just crazy. Unfortunately, these days you see too much of it. There's weather changes where you're like, 'What in the hell is going on here? They have a tornado just outside of St. Louis in December?’”

The building did have storm shelters inside, but one of them was on the wall that the tornado hit, Sawlsville said. A concrete wall was broken off and folded over onto the shelter-in-place area. The 40-plus people who were able to get out afterwards were further into the building. 

“As soon as the fire department was able to clear a path, 40 plus people walked out of that building,” Sawlsville said. “Now you're like, 'My God, that's huge.'” 

The six people that were lost in the disaster left an impression on Sawlsville. 

“Two weeks from vacation, all these people were doing was their job,” Sawlsville said. “They weren't doing anything stupid or crazy. They just showed up for work. It was just incredible sadness."

When called to larger incidents like the Edwardsville tornado, firefighters like Sawlsville go to help. But in every instance, they also learn something, he said. He never thought a tornado could snap a six-inch-thick cement wall in half. 

Rochelle has buildings like that, too. Sawlsville plans to tell people locally to put their shelters in the middle of their buildings and not against an outside wall. He said occupants are more likely to survive falling roofing that’s lighter weight rather than a concrete wall. 

Every time Sawlsvllle responds to a larger event, he has the chance to network and meet people with resources and expertise he didn’t always think about beforehand. He cited seeing specially-trained dogs last week that could find where people were located under debris. 

“More specialized things like that, those are connections you can make and it's a huge benefit,” Sawlsville said. “And you go help your neighbor. It's a good feeling knowing if and when it's ever your time, they'll come and help you. I'm not sure you can put a price tag on that.”