ALGIERS, La. &045; The two trucks full of supplies set off from Vidalia well before sunrise, steadily heading south and east towards hurricane-ravaged areas of coastal Louisiana.

Wednesday marked what will likely be the last of three deliveries of supplies the Vidalia Fire Department has made to firefighters and other emergency personnel working in New Orleans.

It was three weeks ago when Wayne Collongues walked into the Vidalia Fire Department headquarters on his way to Waterproof, La. At the time, he was helping his family move away from New Orleans to stay with friends in Tensas Parish.

Collongues, a New Orleans firefighter, told members of the Vidalia Fire Department, including Assistant Chief Ben Adams, about the conditions he and his colleagues were facing trying to help rescue people and put out some of the fires that had already sprung up.

&uot;He just stopped by and said, ‘Guys, I need some help,&uot; Adams said. &uot;All our guys had been wanting to help, but we didn’t know what to do.&uot;

With just 17 firefighters total, Vidalia couldn’t afford to send even one man &045; or any equipment &045; to New Orleans. But a plan quickly developed.

After talking to Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland, the department decided to organize a supply shipment.

&uot;We went and talked to local businesses and the response was phenomenal,&uot; Adams said. &uot;In less than 12 hours, we had three truckloads of food and water ready to go.&uot;

A day after Collongues stopped by, the Vidalia firefighters delivered the supplies to a massive staging area for first responders in Algiers.

More than 3,000 emergency responders are encamped at what used to be &045; and will be again &045; a quiet Catholic College just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans in the community of Algiers, La.

The workers are from across the country &045; about 800 New Orleans firefighters, another 800 from Chicago, 300 from New York City, hundreds more from smaller communities as far away as Washington hundreds more soldiers and law enforcement personnel from local, state and federal agencies are inhabiting the grounds of Our Lady of Holy Cross College and medical facilities next to it.

Even in Algiers, where there was not significant flooding, the hurricane took its toll, knocking down thousands of trees, interrupting power service and throwing barges up onto levees above the Mississippi River.

Dormitories and hundreds of tents are house the workers and huge outdoor mess hall gives them the food they need for their work.

&uot;The families of the people here that are out there, they should know we’re being well taken care of,&uot; Collongues said.

But that wasn’t always the case.

When Vidalia firefighters made their first trip to the camp three days after Hurricane Katrina hit, there was almost no food or water for the workers.

&uot;They had nothing that first time we went,&uot; Adams said. &uot;We pulled up and they helped us unload it and put it in a stairwell with the other things they had, which was almost nothing.&uot;

Vidalia firefighters made two more trips, bringing socks, T-shirts, underwear and food.

Collongues repeatedly thanked the Vidalia firefighters for their work Wednesday and asked for lists of businesses that contributed in order to thank them as well.

&uot;I want to make sure we thank all these people properly when we get a chance,&uot; Collongues said.