West Chicago Fire Response

I was jarred out of a deep sleep by the shrill ring of my cell phone at 2 a.m. this morning. For most people a late night call is bad news and this was no exception. There was a 3-11 fire in West Chicago (which is in DuPage County –not in Chicago proper as the name may indicate) that we were responding to. For those of us that work and volunteer here at the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago being woken up in the middle of the night is a relatively common occurrence, especially during winter months in Chicago-a prime time for house fires. At 2 a.m. Greater Chicago Red Cross volunteers had already been on the scene for hours making sure people had a place to stay for the evening. 17 people stayed at our shelter last night and were served breakfast this morning. Today we’re getting ready to help even more people. Some may have stayed with friends or family last night instead of our shelter but these people likely still lost important items in the blaze so we're going to make sure we help them too. Our caseworkers will be on hand all day today to provide things like replacement medications, food and clothing to the people affected by this disaster. We will also have Red Cross workers on site to talk to anyone who needs a friendly ear or just a hug.
*Posted by Martha Carlos, Sr. Manager of Marketing and Communications at the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago