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.