St. Paul firefighters faced trauma during riots, Minneapolis rookie firefighter tried to help George Floyd

Firefighters from Minneapolis and St. Paul battled more than just flames late last month.

And 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned the rookie firefighter who tried to help George Floyd during his arrest is 28-year-old Genevieve Hansen.

St. Paul Fire Captain Dennis Hall said the fires last week, coupled with some unsafe places of those fires, were the worst thing he’s dealt with in his 26 years of service.

"It was surreal," he said. "I think that is good word for it."

He added, "It was tough because we wanted to get to those fires and couldn’t, and then to have the police and National Guard have to set up protective areas is just something I didn’t think I would ever see."

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Hall said the SPFD is planning on putting together a video and will be reaching out to firefighters to help them with any trauma they experienced last week.

Hansen, the Minneapolis Firefighter who asked police to take George Floyd’s pulse, declined an interview request.

Her family told KSTP she had been involved in the fire department’s response to the Cedar-Riverside high-rise fire last November, where five people died. She also fought the Drake Hotel fire in December.