By Suzanne Lawler, Regional Communications Manager

At the young age of 23, Maghan Orr knows trauma. It assaulted her early on a Sunday morning in downtown Macon, Georgia. “I was in denial that it was all happening. I just sat there and screamed,” she said.

Two historic homes that stood like statues in time, burned to the ground. The red flames licked through the boards so intensely that a streetlight melted, its orb a white ghoulish blob sitting on a pole.

Orr lived in one of the homes and the people who saved her life, her best friends, lived next door. They got her out. “I ran outside and I look out and the whole topside here is on fire,” Brannon Swain recalled. “I ran inside and said go get Maghan out. Do whatever you’ve got to do.”

Swain had moved his things in with his girlfriend, Victoria Carruthers two weeks before the fateful event.

Amid the disaster, firefighters pushed them back beyond yellow tape. They lifted their phones and took videos, helpless to do much else. “We just watched because what else are you supposed to do,” Carruthers said. “Everything you own is in that one house and it’s just burning into the flames and everything you’ve worked so hard for is gone and it becomes nothing but ash.”

Orr had two cats. Boots survived but her beloved pet Mittens, whom she called her soul animal, didn’t make it out. “I ran back inside and Mittens was under there. I tried to get her, but the bed was too low,” she said. “They weren’t cats, they were my kids.” Orr made a heroic effort to grab that four-legged part of her family, but firefighters chased her out of the burning building.

Carruthers described the nightmare that quickly invaded her subconscious days after her home burned so fiercely that the concrete broke and collapsed into the ground. “I was sweating and I thought I was on fire,” she said. “And it’s very scary to know how close you were to not being here with our loved ones anymore. It’s been a very traumatic experience.”

The Red Cross responds to more than 60,00 disasters each year across the U.S., the majority of which are house fires. The morning of May 5 was no different for the three friends who watched their homes go up in flames.

Volunteers give out recovery assistance, comfort kits and blankets. A kit includes some necessities like a toothbrush, a washcloth and soap. It may seem like a small gesture, but it can mean the world.

“I did not know they had a program like that for victims like us,” Carruthers said. “And we were grateful for it because the Red Cross gave me my first thing that I had to myself again to my name and I couldn’t be more thankful for that truly.”

The Red Cross gives out approximately 15,000 kits a year just in Georgia. “It might not be fancy but when you don’t have anything to your name it is the most generous thing you can give somebody,” Carruthers said.

Orr, Carruthers, and Swain were friends. They are now bonded together through a day that changed their lives. “I think it’s going to take a toll on me, Maghan and Brannon for a while,” Carruthers said.

That is undeniable. The Red Cross is part of their recovery, sharing key things at a critical time and hope for a better future.

HOME FIRE CAMPAIGN SAVE LIVES
Since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign with community partners has saved more than 2,100 lives - including 244 in Georgia - by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans, and installing free smoke alarms in high-risk areas across the country. To learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved, visit redcross.org/homefires.

HOW TO HELP
You can help people affected by disasters and countless other crises by making a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.  People can donate by visiting redcross.org/donate, calling 1-800-RED-CROSS, or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
 

About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.