Firefighters from a number of local fire departments have already gone down to the New York City area and other places hard hit by Hurricane Sandy. 

But a group that left over the weekend, headed for Suffolk County on Long Island, is there for a specific function relating to buildings. 

They are part of what's called 'C.E.D.A.R.,  which stands for Code Enforcement Disaster Assistance Response. '  That's an effort that was formalized after last year's Hurricane Irene, and it sends people with expertise in buildings and codes to help out communities decimated by a natural disaster. 

Four local firefighters have gone down to Long Island, including Lt. Ted Kuppinger of the Rochester Fire Department.  He tells WHAM News that they, along with others from around the state, will help officials assess the damage of some of the five to six thousand buildings affected because of the storm... 

"It's in the budget, it is a program for emergency response for the codes departments. so this is the first official deployment of the Cedar  team since its inception."

Kuppinger and the other local firefighters will be focusing on the small barrier islands off the coast of Long Island where winds topped 90 miles an hour.