Sanchez, one of at least four city firefighters and police officers heading south, had to have a little talk with his daughter before he volunteered to help with the storm recovery.

Sanchez, 45, a 23-year firefighter, will be gone a month and during that time, his daughter will celebrate her 16th birthday, on Sept 17.

“I said, ‘I’ll make it up to you.’ She understands,” said Sanchez, a father of three. “She knows that I’m helping, doing something good.”

His daughter’s name? Katrina.

The Lancaster City firefighters and police officers will be joining in the relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, via the Federal Emergency Management Association and the National Guard unit stationed here.

Sanchez and city firefighter Kyle Davidson are partnering to answer a call from FEMA, which has asked the nation’s fire service to send 1,000 two-person teams to Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

Mayor Charlie Smithgall has authorized the city fire department to send up to four firefighters and another team also may be deployed.

Sanchez and Davidson don’t know exactly when they will be leaving, where they will be going or even exactly what type of work they will be doing, but they are eager to help.

“It breaks my heart when I see the need,” Sanchez said.

Davidson, 42, said, “We just have a responsibility to one another. That’s what I was taught. If I can’t be my brother’s keeper, then who will?”

The father of six, including two children at home, Davidson said he’s thankful his own family is healthy and safe. He watches the media coverage of the flood and thinks about all the families who are not.

“I think it’s a lot more than an individual is capable of taking in,” he said. “All we see are pictures. It’s like anything else. You can turn it off and get back to your daily everyday life but to see or to be encompassed by that devastation, it’s got to have a different impact.”

City police officers Rick Beighley and David Ruiz also are preparing to go help with the hurricane relief efforts. Both are members of the Pennsylvania National Guard 328th Brigade Support Battalion, which has more than 600 soldiers.

The two were helping to prepare equipment today, in anticipation of a call-up of anywhere from two weeks to a month.

Sgt. 1st Class Walter Burnett, the 328th’s operations sergeant, said it is a support battalion that provides water, food and other supplies, as well as medical care. The battalion is on a “warning order,” which notifies it to start planning to leave.

Gov. Edward Rendell Thursday mobilized 2,500 Pennsylvania Army and Air National Guard members to support hurricane disaster relief efforts. It’s the largest state activation of Pennsylvania National Guard troops since Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

Beighley, 36, works in military intelligence for the battalion. Ruiz, 41, works in communications.

“We’re soldiers first,” Beighley said. “They can pull us in to do whatever they need.”

And the needs there are great, he said.

“I have been seeing how the police have their hands full with trying to stop the looting,” he said. “They’re definitely outmanned. It will be nice to give them some relief and get everything under control.”

Beighley said he’s also anxious to help those who are suffering, adding, “This is what we train for. This is what we wait to do.”

Ruiz said, “We are bracing for the worst. We’re prepared for the unknown.

“If you’re called for duty, you have a sense of urgency or commitment and eagerness to help those in need. I’m proud to serve my country in any capacity.”