Dylan Loveless, 4, dressed in a Spiderman shirt and smacking on chewing gum, wrapped his fingers around his daddy's hand.
"It's a big storm," Dylan said softly. "We're going to miss him."
Even at 4, Dylan and his twin sister, Madison, said they realize their daddy, firefighter Rick Loveless, is something special -- a hero, even.
Rick and five other Lexington firefighters left yesterday for Victoria -- a city in southeast Texas between Houston and Corpus Christi -- to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, now a Category 4 hurricane headed toward the Texas coast.
The firefighters, who joined 25 ambulances and crews from Kentucky yesterday, are part of a statewide call-up by the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center and the state Board of Emergency Medical Services.
By sending emergency teams to the area before the storm hits, officials hope to prevent some of the problems and chaos that occurred with Hurricane Katrina.
The Lexington firefighters will stay at least five days and have no idea what to expect.
And although the firefighters realize their lives could be in danger, they volunteered without hesitation.
"It's in our DNA," Lt. Paul Abercrombie said. "Firemen help people in time of need. It doesn't matter who or where. If people need help, we go help."
Distributed by the Associated Press
