rise from the ashes

So many interesting things have happened these past couple of weeks. Which means so many opportunities to blog!
Today I volunteered with the American Red Cross.

This is pretty much the only image for this post. I didn't take any pictures

Drought conditions have really left the state vulnerable to fire. The chapter I'm in normally responds to 2 apartment/house fires a day, and now we have so many wildfires to respond to as well. [plug for the American Red Cross: volunteer! or donate! or both!] So today I helped load up some trucks with supplies for people affected by these fires, and then we drove them out to a stricken area and drove along the streets looking for people. We had three teams going: one for mental health services to help victims cope, one for medical health services to treat victims/distribute first aid kits, and one for bulk distribution (the team I was on) to give shovels/rakes/buckets/clorox/trash bags/dust masks/water to those cleaning up.

[Imagine pictures here of houses completely destroyed by fire]

The neighborhood had both brick houses and mobile homes, so I got to see a variety of devastation. Some houses got lucky and just had a scorched lawn (which, admittedly, still looks depressing). Some had smoke stains on the side, or warped siding. Most had warped-to-point-of-disintegration fences, as plastic fences don't handle heat very well. A few houses had holes in walls and roofs from where the fire had eaten. And then a lot of houses were completely gone. Brick houses reduced to a 3' by 5' wall and ashes. Twisted I-beams all that remained of mobile homes. 

At times it was eery how the path of the fire had selected some and left others untouched. There was one mobile home that was just ashes, but the backyard playground was left unscathed. In another neighborhood, the community playground was the only structure that was burned.

A lot of the people in the area were the insurance people and the electricians, so we would try to find the actual victims by asking "Are you the homeowner?" or "Do you live here?", which is actually quite awkward to say when you are facing a pile of rubble. Some people recognized the humor in that, with expressions or words saying: "Of course I don't live here! There is no house! How can I say that I'm the homeowner?"

One of the 'highlights' of the experience was being filmed for TV. A news reporter asked us if he could film, and someone on my team said that was fine, which is okay politically, but personally, I didn't really want to be filmed. It was a hot day, and my sunglasses kept sliding down my nose; I wonder how many times I pushed them back while trying to present a professional picture.

I admire the spirit of the people. A lot were out there in the heat working to salvage what they could while giving and taking what comfort they can. At one house, we offered our supplies and they said they were fine, but one of the people helping clean up asked for some for her own house, which was burned down a little further down the road. I wanted to jump up to advertise this woman's courage--helping a neighbor out when she herself needed help! What fraternity!

We didn't really give away that many supplies, but I'm willing to bet that the presence of American Red Cross volunteers was a significant contribution. One guy we passed said that although he didn't need any help, he loved the American Red Cross. Many people thanked us and wished us well, even when they needed the well-wishes so much more. God bless Texas!