Vice President-Elect J.D. Vance on Friday met with local first responders and firefighters who lost members of their community during Hurricane Helene.
“One of the firefighters told me about his colleague, who had lost his life, saving people, as the waters rose so quickly,” Vance said.
Fairview Fire Department Battalion Chief Tony Garrison died while rescuing landslide victims in Buncombe County on Sept. 27, reported Spectrum News. His nephew, Brandon Ruppe, also died during emergency response operations.
Vance said he met the firefighter’s wife and son. He called this family “the best people in the world.”
“That's really what I think about Western North Carolina, that's who represents this state and the people of the Appalachian region in North Carolina so well – is a firefighter willing to risk his life, to save a member of a community,” Vance said during his remarks in Fairview at the fire station, according to video coverage from WLOS. “And then his family is still standing there willing to tell his story, willing to make sure that the memory of their father inspires people and is not forgotten.”
There have been 103 fatalities verified as Helene-related across North Carolina, with 94 in Western North Carolina – one of the most deadly storms ever in the region.
“We have the best country, we have the best people and the Appalachian people of North Carolina, I think, are the very best of a very great country,” Vance said.
The outgoing Biden administration has requested $100 billion in federal disaster relief but Congress has yet to take a vote.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus has urged Republicans not to vote for the relief package, The Hill reported this week, saying they shouldn’t send “not one more cent to the Biden administration.”
