ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — We're learning much more about the first response to the Spanish Lakes community after it was hit by a deadly EF3 tornado earlier this month.
WPTV reporter Tyler Hatfield spoke to firefighters to hear about what they did on that tragic day and recounted what they saw.
Six people died when a powerful tornado hit the senior community on Oct. 9.
Hatfield sat down with St. Lucie County Fire District Lt. Jeremy Rouse to learn about his team's response and how it was the most intense call of his career.
Rouse said they had about 45 firefighters at the scene after the tornado hit.
His team saw mobile homes completely destroyed, others were tossed around and some were propelled into trees.
Rouse said they set up a command post immediately inside the Spanish Lakes clubhouse.
"The hard part that we struggle with sometimes is knowing the loss that people went through," Rouse said. "You don't have time to think. You don't have time to even take in what's going on. It's just, this is what's happening. This is what I need to do. Let's get it done."
Teams were dispatched to the northern, central and southern areas of the neighborhood — coordinating search and rescue efforts, medical triage and taking victims to shelters.
Rouse said they only had three hours to do this until the next rain bands from Hurricane Milton hit the Treasure Coast.
"You could tell that (the first responders) were tired," Rouse said. "They were exhausted, but at no point was anybody quitting or giving up at all. We needed to get out there and get these people to a safe place."
One thing he said he will remember is the people he saw.
"You couldn't feel anything but absolute compassion for them because of what they just went through," Rouse said. "Some of them (were) injured. Some of them just lost everything and you just feel for them, you feel horrible, and you just want to do everything you can for them. ... We talked to them just as we would our own mothers and fathers because we could see the hurt. We could see the pain in them, and we'd sit them down and just offer them whatever we had."
St. Lucie County Fire District Lt. Craig Stolzer was dispatched to the hard-hit Creekside and Hidden Pines communities.
After seeing the devastation, he said he was unsure if they had enough manpower.
"I don't know, prior in my career, if I've ever thought to myself, 'Are we going to have enough people?'" Stolzer said.
He reflected on the pride of his co-workers on that day, which he described as "some of the four most intense hours" of his 18-year career.
"It's horrible to think of the loss that people can go through, but in our situation, it's nice to be able to look back and say, I think what we did, we did everything possible, and I think we did right by the members of our community," Stolzer said.
Read more of WPTV.com's coverage of Spanish Lakes including the victims who were killed:
Region St Lucie County
NWS releases new information on tornado outbreak
Region St Lucie County
Names of 6 Spanish Lakes tornado victims released
Region St Lucie County
'He loved everybody:' Grandson of tornado victim shares grandfather's legacy
Region St Lucie County
