Harris teams up with Airgas to distribute oxyfuel torches for Kentucky tornado cleanup

Harris reps Patrick Kelley (left) and Sam Koehne (right) with Jimmy Nessler of Mako Industries.

In the aftermath of the devastating tornado that ripped through Kentucky and several other states on Dec. 10, one of the critical needs was to haul away massive amounts of debris and get businesses back up and running. To help these efforts, Harris Products Group came together with its distributor Airgas, an Air Liquide company, to supply oxyfuel torches and tips to several companies in Mayfield, Ky.

In the days following the tornado, volunteers poured into Mayfield to help remove wreckage and support victims. Louis Yopp of Airgas, Harris’ distributor in the region, was in the thick of the cleanup effort, supplying customers with urgent needs for cutting torches, tips, hose, and regulators while also searching the greater Mayfield area for gas cylinders displaced in the storm.

Wanting to help Airgas and its customers who were working around the clock to clean up Mayfield, Harris technical sales reps Sam Koehne and Patrick Kelley asked Yopp for a list of supplies needed. Within a few days, the reps drove to Mayfield with eight torches and 72 cutting tips in various sizes, all donated by the company.

During the visit to Mayfield, they met several Airgas customers, including Universal Technologies, where workers were using short torches and operating from elevated bucket trucks. Harris’ extended torches provided greater safety for the workers.

The group also visited Mako Industries, a manufacturer of large dumpsters. They used the torches to help support the cleanup process across Mayfield and for manufacturing more dumpsters for cleanup efforts.

World Tower, a manufacturer of large cell towers that lost a large portion of its manufacturing facility, used the torches to help bring operations online again.

“It was amazing to see all the people, from different organizations and different parts of the Midwest, loading up their pickup trucks, bringing their Bobcats, and pitching in to clean up the wreckage from a tornado that impacted so many lives,” Kelley said. “This whole experience showed that Americans can come together and support one another to drive action for the better.”

He also praised Koehne, who went “above and beyond to help out our customers and their communities with personal donations.” Koehne launched a Venmo fundraising campaign to support Mayfield residents, raising over $1,000 in four days.