Red Cross responds to local house fires through its disaster action team.
They help provide comfort with blankets, hygiene kits, and financial assistance.
“Right now, we only have about 89 active volunteers across our chapter, and we can really use more hearts and hands to help us be able to respond and make sure no one is facing a disaster alone,” said Kathryn Halvorsen, the Executive Director for the North Central Wisconsin Red Cross.
Halvorsen says they could especially use volunteers north of Marathon County and into the western Upper Peninsula.
She says volunteering is flexible in terms commitments and hours. You get a text message, and it tells you where the fire is and if it's within close proximity of you, you can approve it or deny it.
“Every disaster response starts with a volunteer, and that's someone who's willing to show up and help a family on what might be the worst day of their life,” said Halvorsen. “Really, that's the spirit of the Red Cross, and that's the spirit we're calling for this holiday season.”
You can learn more about volunteering and the training involved on the Red Cross website.
Red Cross volunteers also help make sure people have a plan if there is a fire.
“Anyone can sign up for a free smoke alarm, and we will have volunteers or our local fire departments that we partner with that will come in and do the installations for you. They'll also go over a fire escape plan with you,” said Halvorsen.
There’s typically a spike in home fires in the winter as people use space heaters, light candles, and overload sockets with holidays lights.
Candles especially lead to more than 20,000 house fires annually.
“I just would caution people, if they've got a candle going, you know, one thing I always am aware of, I'm not leaving the house while I have candles going, and really just paying attention to what you're frying as well,” said Halvorsen.
You can schedule a free Red Cross Home Fire Safety Visit on the Red Cross website.
