House Fire in Richmond's Northside

The Call & The Response

Saturday, Feb 3, 2007 at 11:00 PM, I responded to a Red Cross call (my first) for a house fire in the Cloverland neighborhood in Richmond's Northside. Our team met the clients (victims of the house fire) at a nearby Travelers Lodge to process the paperwork so they could be provided with immediate shelter. The fire affected an engaged couple and her three teenage children.

The home suffered a kitchen fire resulting from the contents of a pot on the stove igniting. The kitchen fire caused smoke damage through part of the home. The kitchen was heavily damaged, but overall damage to the home was minimal because of the quick thinking of the occupants to use a water hose to contain the fire to the kitchen until the fire department arrived. Collateral damage was suffered by the wiring in the kitchen forcing the fire department to cut power to the home. With temperatures expected in single digits over the next few days, getting this family to a hotel was imperative.

The Preparation
Keeping in mind that this was my first DAT (Disaster Action Team) response, I was thankful for a number of things that helped me in this situation and that will help me in the months and years to come.

• I was very glad to be accompanied by Michelle Evans as she is very experienced in the entire response process. She was very helpful to me, as I quickly realized there were a lot of paperwork things to take care of. While I wanted to appear to the client that I was knowledgeable and able to answer his questions, I also wanted to be able to show sympathy and caring. All combined, made me thankful to have Michelle there.
• I am glad to have attended as much training I've been able to squeeze into my schedule. The education in Disaster Services and in coordinating services with outside organizations and government agencies has provided me with somewhat of a foundation on which to act confidently when called on.
• I was very thankful to have recently completed Family Services training with Kim Lefler. She did a great job preparing me for handling the paperwork requirement on a call. As good a job as she did, once in a real situation, where judgment calls are required, which form to use, how to respond to a particular question, or more so, how to tactfully ask a question still gets somewhat overwhelming.
  
• I'm glad the Red Cross Chapter is making many training classes available to volunteers over the next few months.
  

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Disasters don't discriminate. Everyone can be a victim and must take action to be prepared. Catastrophic risk is real and devastating and can be mitigated by having a plan and practicing the plan with immediate family. For a post-disaster recovery, safeguard the essentials by investing in a safe to preserve copies of important documents and files..

Computer Records & Important Documents in Safe

Invest in a portable disk drive and take advantage of the computer age by scanning receipts and important papers.

• Your personal finance application CD
• Photo images of insured assets
• Setup CDs and support phone numbers
• Once a month update your stored computer data

Identity Documents in Safe

Every state offers both a drivers license and a state id, get both!!

• birth certificate
• social security card
• state ID
• passports
• photocopy of drivers license and recent utility statements
• List passwords, credit card numbers, secret codes

Financial, Insurance & Estate Records in Safe

Review your policy regularly, keeping it up to date. Know what is and, more importantly, what is not covered.

• insurance policies, stock certificates, vehicle titles and registrations
• phone numbers for insurance agents, investment brokers, banker, attorney, accountant
• recent copies of account statements
• photocopies of receipts from major repairs or improvements
• your will, memorial planner and name of firm holding the original
• power of attorney (may be necessary if not everyone survives the disaster)
• credit card numbers & phone numbers for cancelling/renewing cards
• bank account numbers & phone numbers for the bank
• jewelry

Emergency Items in Safe

The most important things to save are ourselves, our family members and our pets. The rest can be replaced.

• extra debit card, credit card & emergency cash
• keys for emergencies
• copies of prescriptions (medicine, eyeglasses, hearing aid, other medical needs)
  
• eyeglasses, hearing aid
  
• phone number for pharmacist, personal doctors, health insurance provider and family
• copy of health insurance card

Recap

With house fires affecting single families and to hurricanes affecting whole communities, getting back on your feet after a disaster is difficult. This road to recovery can be made easier for families who have prepared for the disaster in advance.

We all need to keep in mind that tomorrow is not promised and being prepared for the worst is the best thing for those we leave behind.

I'd like to extend thanks to all those (primarily through LinkedIn) who provided their input and ideas to me for this article. I also welcome any comments to this blog that might help me to improve upon what is now written.