Mayor Rick Allen and the Leesville City Council on Monday thanked the many groups that assisted in firefighting efforts over the past week for their help.

Willow Mae Kennedy, District 2, spoke about her first-hand experience with the evacuation of the Woodland Nursing Home. She said her mother was one of the 186 residents evacuated.

“Everything was just handled so efficiently… the evacuation plan was really a success.”

She said it was vital that everything run smoothly, considering the varying conditions of the residents at the home.

Allen seconded this, calling the evacuation a “smooth transition.”

“Some of them are bedridden, some of them are confined to wheelchairs and some of them just get really confused easily, so you have to be really gentle and slow about how you make an operation like that happen.”

The residents were transported to several facilities in Lafayette, Shreveport and Bossier City, Kennedy said.

The mayor of Pineville, Rich Dupree, sent support for both the evacuation and firefighting efforts, Allen said. The Pineville Fire Department sent out four of their 12 firetrucks and shuttled their firefighters to and from Leesville.

“He got his council onboard, they sent their Pineville fire department to us immediately because they knew our departments were stressed out.”

He also expressed gratitude for Friday Ellis, the mayor of Monroe, who was “on the phone with immediately” to send assistance.

“It’s great to have buddies like that as mayors in this great state.”

Fort Johnson also received thanks. He said that without Units 20 and 21, many homes in Leesville would have burnt down.

The only structure that was lost was a barn. There were no injuries or lost homes.

Chris Roberston, District 1, also spoke to the multi-state collaboration that has taken place to fight the fire, directly citing aid that was dispatched from Houston and Harrison County in Mississippi.

“We had lots of folks that came from all over … these people are coming a long way in big trucks that are probably getting two miles to the gallon. It’s incredible that you see the outpour that we had.”

Phillip Hunt thanked radio stations 105 and 93.5 for providing quick and accurate information to the public.

He also made it clear that the fight is still ongoing.

“This ain’t over with by any means. Just because we got a little rain yesterday, and maybe a little bit the day before, we’re still under a burn ban. We’re probably going to be under that for a little while.”

The burn ban is still strictly in place and Allen made it clear grilling and boiling outside are banned in addition to other activities that pose a fire hazard.

He thanked the governor for visiting Vernon Parish to assess the situation and figure out what steps and supplies were needed to address the Tiger Island Fire.

“From what I gathered from the information, he was willing to give us whatever we needed, because he knew it was bad.”