Written by Roger Enix – Red Cross Public Affairs
A husband and wife team from Durango, Colorado, has been deployed to support the American Red Cross’s disaster efforts, specifically the devastating wildfires raging across the Pacific Northwest. Greg Rossell and Anita Phillips left Durango earlier this month and drove a Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) to their assignment in the Salem, Oregon area.
Given the numerous large-scale disasters coinciding across the country, which range from massive wildfires across the west to hurricanes battering the southeast, Greg and Anita delivered one of the very first Emergency Response Vehicle (ERVs) to arrive in Oregon. Local Red Cross resources had previously been diverted to support California’s disaster efforts by the time they arrived in Oregon. They are currently delivering meals and other necessary supplies to clients displaced by the wildfire evacuations presently living in hotels, non-congregate shelters, fairgrounds and campgrounds. Soon, once it’s safe from the immediate threats of mudslides and falling trees, they will be expanding their support to impacted neighborhood areas once clients begin to return for recovery and clean-up efforts. As with most large-scale disaster efforts, this is a large multi-agency response requiring flexibility and coordination from all the Red Cross volunteers and staff supporting these projects.
Greg and Anita wear many hats, Red Cross veterans, the Durango Disaster Action Team and of many national deployments ranging from Hurricane Katrina to typhoons in Saipan, this deployment has been a little different for Greg and Anita. Visibility throughout Oregon was declining as they got closer and ultimately was reduced to about one-quarter of a mile. The American Red Cross has been careful to institute policies and protocols designed to keep both clients and volunteers safe in this COVID environment, but the normal respiratory issues related to such dense smoke and poor air quality compound the challenges of trying to support the needs of clients in today’s pandemic world – a world that is new to everyone, including an experienced Red Cross team like Anita and Greg.
Greg and Anita have been so overwhelmed by the amount of appreciation and ‘thanks’ from clients, many of whom aren’t even sure what they will return to find once conditions change to allow for recovery and clean up. “The local Red Cross people have been so wonderful to work with and we’ve been easily integrated into the operations quickly as a result of the local teams,” said Anita. Greg related that “the community here has been great, there are many local volunteers as well who have been very cooperative and made it easy for us to be an effective part of the local response.”
Anita and Greg will most likely be leaving the Red Cross ERV in Oregon as the recovery efforts in the Pacific Northwest are expected to continue for the coming weeks and months. They will return to Durango and continue their work with the American Red Cross in Southwest Colorado. Each one of their deployments has been rewarding and important in its own way. The critical work of the American Red Cross continues in a year where nothing seems normal thanks to the efforts of volunteers like Anita Phillips and Greg Rossell. Supporting people impacted by these devastating wildfires, while trying to navigate our pandemic world safely, will serve to provide experiences and memories that Anita and Greg won’t soon forget.
What a wonderful article!