This past month, when communities across our nation faced disasters such as fires and hurricanes, volunteers from the American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming were mobilized to assist other parts of the country to prepare, respond and recover from these disasters. In August, 158 Colorado and Wyoming disaster responders deployed both virtually and in-person to provide support and recovery assistance to people who had been affected by these disasters.
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- August 2020 – The American Red Cross of Colorado is assisting residents from one Pine Creek Apartment building that caught fire on Saturday, August 8, 2020.Red Cross volunteers have been hard at work since, providing shelter, food, medical assistance and mental health support as well as taking care of immediate needs, like clothing, infant essentials and more for 46 adults and children.
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- August 31, 2020 – Volunteer from the American Red Cross of Colorado, Thea Wasche continue their journey through parts of Louisiana that were devastated by Hurricane Laura. Thea and Peggy are ensuring that those in need receive food.
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- August 25 2020 – The dedication our volunteers give our communities is incredible. Today, the Red Cross delivered water and lunches to the hard working crew at the Parker Arts Center, where COVID testing is taking place with a partnership with Douglas County.
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- August 2020 – The American Red Cross of Southeastern Colorado continues to assist residents from the 2300 block of Sprague Avenue, in Pueblo, Colorado, after the Fenix Apartment building caught fire on Tuesday, August 4, 2020. 40 homes were impacted by the fire. Many units remain uninhabitable today.
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- August 16, 2020, Grizzly Creek Fire- Edwards, Colorado, DRO feeding lead, Thea Wasche and her team prepare Creek high school in Evans, Colorado to be an evacuation site for those displaced by the Grizzly Creek fire.
Breakdown of the CO & WY Deployment in Colorado:
- Colorado Wildfires: In August, multiple wildfires scorched parts of Colorado. 56 disaster responders deployed in response to the Grizzly Creek, Cameron Peak, Williams Fork, Pine Gulch and Lewstone Fires providing support to evacuees from areas threatened by the fires.
- Pine Creek Apartment and Fenix Apartment Fires: 43 disaster responders provided food, lodging, supplies – like clothing, infant essentials and other emergent needs, medical and mental health care and more to the 64 people impacted by the Pine Creek Apartment fire in Denver and the nearly 100 people impacted by the Fenix Apartment fire in Pueblo.
Breakdown of the CO & WY National Deployment for August 2020:
- Hurricane Laura: Hurricane Laura left terrible devastation in her wake in Louisiana and Texas – and the Red Cross is there, working closely with local officials and partners to help those impacted as they begin to pick up the pieces. Red Cross of Colorado & Wyoming has sent 59 disaster responders to Texas and Louisiana to provide support before, during and after the storm.
Breakdown of the CO & WY 87 county service area for August 2020:
Most of the 60,000 national emergencies that the Red Cross responds to each year are local, personal disasters like home fires. The Red Cross knows these local disasters are just as devastating as large scale disasters. Volunteers from our Disaster Action Teams are ready to respond to these local emergencies, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In August, the American Red Cross of Colorado and Wyoming provided support and care to 158 people. Out of the 57 cases in August, the majority of calls were for home fires.
- Mile High Chapter (MHC) responded to 25 calls for service and helped 78 people. The MHC response area includes 10 counties in the Denver Metro area.
- Southeastern Colorado Chapter (SECO) responded to 8 calls for service and helped 23 people. The SECO response area includes 16 counties.
- Northern Colorado Chapter (NOCO) responded to 5 calls for service and helped 6 people. The NOCO response area includes 11 counties.
- Western Colorado Chapter (WECO) responded to 7 calls for service and helped 13 people. The WECO response area covers 27 counties, serving all Western Colorado and the San Luis Valley.
- Wyoming Chapter (WYO) responded to 12 calls for assistance and provided care to 38 people. The WYO response area covers 8 counties in the state of Wyoming.
Community Partnerships
The pandemic has given the Red Cross many new and unusual opportunities to support and collaborate with our communities, organizations and agency partners. In August, our COVID strike team, a set of volunteers who receive advanced COVID-19 training, partnered with the Salvation Army and Douglas County in Colorado to deliver dozens of lunches to COVID19 testing sites.
COVID-19
The coronavirus pandemic puts additional stress on families seeking support after disaster, which is why we have plans in place to reduce risks—such as social distancing protocols, face coverings, health screenings and prioritizing individual hotel rooms. The safety of our workforce and the communities we serve continues to be our priority. The Red Cross follows all CDC guidance, and we work closely with local health officials to safely provide help and hope when disasters strike.