Mike Wolanin | The Republic Columbus firefighter Marcus Gruner is shown at Columbus Fire Station No. 2 in Columbus, Ind., Friday, July 17, 2020.
A local firefighter is among those conducting search and rescue in Mayfield, Kentucky in the wake of the tornado outbreak.
Columbus firefighter Marcus Gruner has been deployed to the area as a member of Indiana Task Force 1.
“The task force is conducting search and rescue operations this afternoon,” Columbus firefighters posted on social media on Sunday. “Please keep all involved and all affected in your thoughts.”
Indiana Task Force 1 shared on Facebook that its crews were conducting search and rescue operations at the site of the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory on Sunday morning.
The task force posted on Saturday that it had been activated for response to Mayfield as a Type 3 Urban Search and Rescue Team following overnight storms.
“Task Force 1 departed this afternoon for Mayfield, Kentucky to support search and rescue operations following Friday’s devastating tornado,” officials wrote.
According to the Associated Press, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said Monday at least 64 people were killed in the state. Officials think the death toll will be lower than initially feared since it appears that more people escaped the candle factory than was previously thought.
At first, as many as 70 people were feared dead in the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, but the company said Sunday that eight deaths were confirmed and eight people remained missing, while more than 90 others had been located.
“Many of the employees were gathered in the tornado shelter and after the storm was over they left the plant and went to their homes,” said Bob Ferguson, a spokesman for the company. “With the power out and no landlines, they were hard to reach initially. We’re hoping to find more of those eight unaccounted as we try their home residences.”
Beshear warned that it might take some time to pin down a complete death toll within the state, as door-to-door searches are impossible in some areas.
“With this amount of damage and rubble, it may be a week or even more before we have a final count on the number of lost lives,” the Kentucky governor said.
