Days after returning from two weeks of hurricane relief efforts in New Orleans, four Mt. Carmel firefighters sat around a table sorting receipts.

A roasted chicken sandwich.

A fountain drink from a gas station in Mississippi.

And gasoline: A brush truck, an SUV and two pick-ups - one pulling an enclosed trailer - racked up a more than $1,900 fuel bill. A hand-written rundown filled an 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper.

Alongside receipts littering a table at the Mt. Carmel Fire Station were packets of photographs, photo albums and paperwork... there was plenty of state paperwork that had to be done, since the local firefighters headed to New Orleans in a state-wide deployment of Illinois' Mutual Aid Box Alarm System.

As Aaron Brown stacked his receipts and Mark Seaton questioned who belonged to the chicken sandwich, Gary Chalcraft tinkered with his video camera, attached by a cord to a TV sitting on a cart in the fire station's common room. The camera went to New Orleans with the 10 area personnel from Mt. Carmel, Allendale and Grayville, and "Chalky" was eager to share the several tapes of footage he and his cohorts recorded on their trip.

Mark Weirich sipped on a fountain drink as he flipped quickly through photographs, commenting he couldn't find one of his disposable cameras - the one he used to shoot all of those pictures of President George W. Bush, when he came to their base camp situated on Our Lady of Holy Cross, Louisiana's Catholic College.

Chalcraft chimes in on that discussion - he, too, was missing two rolls of film.

Perhaps one of the firefighters from Grayville has them.

The whole scene was as casual as an afternoon with good friends: A laugh here, a funny story there, the occasional jab.

Hard to believe they'd left Mt. Carmel on Labor Day after a teary send-off - not knowing exactly where they would be going, or what they would do - and spent two weeks in an area paralyzed by a hurricane.

By now their story is familiar with many in the area: Chalcraft, Seaton, Brown and Weirich from the Mt. Carmel Fire Department, Thomas Jefferson from the Allendale Volunteer Fire Department, and Danny Allen, Carmen Howard and Jack Swain, his wife Melissa Swain and son Randy Swain, all from the Little Wabash Fire Protection District, joined nearly 600 Illinois firefighters who were dispatched in Katrina's wake to the Gulf Coast.

Once in New Orleans, they helped set up a base camp, where Illinois firefighters and others from across the U.S. were given orders, and where truckloads of supplies were brought in to support the effort. For two weeks they did their part, performing an array of tasks from unloading supplies, to performing trash detail, to touring the French Quarter and even helping repair the homes of New Orleans firefighters, giving them a hand as they work to help so many others.

Since their return, these 10 firefighters have had their share of publicity. Interviews, appearances - a real hero's welcome.

But on one Thursday afternoon, the four guys from Mt. Carmel took time to sit down, look at pictures, watch their video and just talk about their experience.

In their eyes, this wasn't necessarily hero stuff.

Watching the video of the convoy traveling south along the Illinois interstate, it was obvious the firefighters were touched by the reception they received. On every overpass, people lined up to wave to the firefighters below. Personal vehicles, ambulances and fire trucks sat along roads above the convoy, American flags draped over the side, as people gave the convoy a 'thumbs-up' and a smile, wishing the firefighters well.

As they got closer to their destination, the effects of Katrina start to be seen. Trees, power lines and signs fallen into yards - as if a bad thunderstorm had ripped through.

Closer still, more wind damage and debris. The group got footage of the Super Dome, where thousands of hurricane evacuees initially took shelter. Its highly-publicized damaged roof was clear: On one half the white metal roof could be seen. On the other, only the brownish subsurface underneath; the metal was gone.

In the heart of the damage, photograph after photograph depicted debris and devastation not unlike a tornado's aftermath, except there was more water involved. The firefighters estimated there were but 5,000 people left in New Orleans when they were there - the photos painted a picture of a ghost town left to deteriorate for years, rather than a vibrant community that days before the hurricane touch it was bustling with activity.

A picture of a house with its bricks pulled from its walls, though the storm opted to leave intact the plywood sheeting underneath. Boats stranded ashore, now nowhere near the bodies of water they were once sitting upon. A shrimp boat squeezed between two homes; a house that once sat beside its neighbor, now tossed in front of it, sitting partially in the street; and everywhere, trash and debris littered the ground.

Outside a church, a white sign attached to the fence spelled out in heavy black letters, "JESUS SWEPT."

Parking lots served as temporary dump sites; heavy equipment had pushed debris there, clearing streets.

Weirich took the video camera with him as he toured the downtown area riding on a ladder truck. They had a police escort wherever they went.

Yes, there was looting evident in New Orleans - a picture of a fire station sitting next to a police station was followed by one of a squad car sitting in back, partially on blocks. Two tires and rims were gone.

No one was quick to fault a person for stealing food to feed his or her family. But, as Seaton put it, it's a little different when someone's wading through water with a 30-inch plasma screen TV in their hands.

Despite the devastation that surrounded them, the guys from Mt. Carmel evidenced there were plenty of things to smile about. They taped the Catholic Mass/Sept. 11 Memorial Service hosted Sunday, Sept. 11, atop a semi trailer.

One day there was a football game, New York Fire Department versus Army.

NYFD won.

Footage showed southeastern Illinois firefighters setting up tents; kicking back in a chair to take a breather; and talking with excitement as they taped Secret Service agents readying the base camp for a visit by the President of the United States.

"Cool" was the word Seaton used to describe meeting the president.

They giggled as they narrated Brown's enjoyment with trash detail: He drove the tractor as others tossed garbage in the back. And Weirich laughed that Chalcraft, an experienced carpenter, drove 300 miles just to patch a roof: That's what he did his first day in New Orleans.

They spoke with pride as they described getting fire stations back in running order, and helping to repair New Orleans firefighters' homes.

After their return home, the four guys from Mt. Carmel went straight back to work. Scrapbooks and photo albums are under construction; some of them even kept logs of their daily activities down south to add to their collections.

Seaton wants to go back some day to see the people whose home he helped clean up. He'd also like to see the French Quarter when it's back in business.

And Weirich said he'd go back in a heartbeat, just to give a hand to the effort.

Of their entire experience, mostly, they were just glad they could help.