Each year, the Red Cross responds to more than 60,000 disasters, and the majority of those are home fires. Notably, during the cooler months of the year, when more families are at home cooking and decorating for the holidays, there tends to be an uptick in home fires across the country. When these unexpected disasters strike, the Red Cross is there to provide emotional support, help families find a place to stay and assist with their recovery. Since January 1, 2021, the Red Cross South Florida Region has responded to 600 home fires, assisting 2,530 clients with health and mental health services, financial assistance, comfort kits and other immediate needs.

The Disaster Action Team is a group of local, specially trained Red Cross volunteer responders who are ready to respond in the face of emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Disaster Action Team volunteers provide care, comfort and compassion as families begin to rebuild their lives. From offering a shoulder to cry on to assisting with immediate needs for shelter and supplies, our volunteers ensure that families don’t have to face tough times alone.

Marjie Jackson, a Red Cross volunteer, became a member of the Disaster Action Team so that she could directly help people who had suffered a significant loss. She felt it was a place where she could do the most good. Marjie shares, “So often when I respond after a fire, I find the residents in a kind of shock -- they haven’t entirely absorbed what has happened. They answer my questions so I can fill out the paperwork, and I can see that they’re gradually realizing they won’t be able to live in their home for a while, maybe just a couple days, maybe for a very long time. Maybe they’ve lost all their belongings, and they’re trying to figure out how to cope. It’s a very difficult time.”

Marjie continued, “I recently went out on a fire that burned several units in an apartment building. After the fire crews left, I went with the mom into the unit where the fire started to see if any of their belongings were salvageable. The unit was destroyed. We stood in the doorway and didn’t need to go any farther to know that nothing was salvageable. She had been hopeful up to that point, but now she just stood there, frozen, tears in her eyes.” Marjie arranged financial assistance for the family, provided comfort kits and even two stuffed toys. “It meant so much to her that her daughters would be starting over with at least one new toy each. She thanked me profusely,” said Marjie.

Ryan Logan, South Florida’s Regional Disaster Officer, leads the Disaster Cycle Services team of more than 1100 volunteers and 16 staff to provide preparedness, response and recovery services to more than 8 million residents across 13 counties. “While most people think of the Red Cross in terms of responding to large disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires and floods, over 95% of our responses are to single and multi-family fires,” he shares. Ryan continues, “The volunteers that make up our Disaster Action Team truly represent the best of humanity. They literally leave the comfort of their home or workplace regardless of the time of day and go help a total stranger at one of the worst times of their lives; it is pretty amazing when you think about it.”  

The Red Cross wants to keep you, your families and your homes safe in the new year and recommends these steps to help: test your smoke alarms monthly and create a home fire escape plan. To create a home fire escape plan, ensure that everyone in your household knows two ways to escape from each room in your home, and in the event of a fire, stay low, leave your home and do not return. If a fire starts within your home, you have less than two minutes to get to safety.

To learn more about protecting yourself, your family and your home, visit redcross.org/homefires to access free fire safety information and resources.

Written by Stephanie Wesseling, American Red Cross Public Affairs