Van Wert Co. Chapter

The Disaster Action Team was called out to a house fire on Greenville Road on the morning of March 4, 2010. The call came at 2:15 AM and 4 members of the team responded, arriving at the scene at 3:00 AM.

The Middlepoint Fire Department was in charge of the scene, receiving assistance from the Van Wert Fire Department and the Ohio City Fire Department. They saved most of the house, but the attached garage and the vehicles inside it were completely destroyed.

The three departments had the fire under control quickly. They then spent a lot of time making sure there were no remaining hot spots or hidden fires that could flare up and do more damage after the firefighters left.

The DAT provided hot and cold drinks to the firefighters and homeowners, as well as other assistance to the homeowners. The team stayed on scene until the firefighters were done, arriving back at the garage at 6:30 AM.

The Disaster Action Team was called to a house fire on 116, just outside of Van Wert, on February 8, 2010. The call came in just after 8:00 AM, and 3 members of the team responded, arriving just after 9:00 AM.

Only minor damage is evident on the home exterior. The interior needs much more work.

The home owner was warned by a smoke detector of the fire upstairs and called 911. Because of the quick action by the Middlepoint Fire Department, the damage to the house was minimal. Water and smoke damage did necessitate the Red Cross offering aid to the homeowners, who were unable to occupy the house until it could be cleaned up.

With no fire fighters to support, and having provided aid to the home owners,  the team had a short stay at the scene, arriving back at the garage at about 11:30 AM.

The Disaster Action Team was called out to an apartment fire in Ohio City on January 12, 2010 at about 7:30 PM. 4 members of the team responded initially, arriving at the scene just after 8:00 PM, with 2 more arriving a few hours later, and more members coming in to take over early the next morning.

The fire turned out to be a large one, with 5 area departments contributing men and equipment. The Ohio City Fire Department was in charge of the scene, with mutual aid being provided by the Wren, Van Wert, Rockford, and Mendon Union Fire Departments. There were 71 firefighters on scene, with traffic and crowd control being handled by the Ohio City Police Department and the Van Wert County Sheriff.

The team provided aid to the family that lost their apartment, and started making arrangements for the delivery of food and other supplies to give support to the firefighters. The Ohio City Village Hall was opened up to give the firefighters a warm place to take a break and eat before heading back out to the fire.

The firefighters were hampered by the cold temperatures and lack of water due to work that is being done on Ohio City’s water system, but they managed to save one of the buildings on the block. A house that was downwind of the fire was threatened by the burning embers, but they also managed to keep it from suffering any fire damage, although it did suffer some water damage from the amount of water they needed to use.

The various assisting departments were finally released to head home starting about 2:30 AM. By about 4:30 AM, the Ohio City Fire Department was on their own, keeping what fire was still going under control until daylight and the arrival of equipment to tear down walls and allow them to get at the remaining fire. They were finally able to finish up early in the afternoon of the 13th, with many of the firefighters having been up well over 24 hours.

The DAT continued to provide support for the firefighters until they were finished, finally returning to the office at about 1:30 PM. The Red Cross would like to thank the many area merchants and restaurants the generously donated to support the efforts of the firefighters.

• Marathon Pak-A-Sak
• Chuffers
• Pizza Hut
• McDonald’s
• Burger King
• Taco Bell
• Wendy’s
• Walmart

The Disaster Action Team was called out to a house fire on Leslie Lane in Van Wert at about 7:30 PM on January 10, 2010. 3 members of the team responded, arriving at the scene just before 8:00 PM.

The house was unoccupied, so the team acted to provide drinks, both hot and cold, to the firefighters from the Van Wert Fire Department. The ERV was also available as a place to warm up from the 10 degree weather when they needed it.

The fire had already spread widely throughout the house before the firefighters arrived, which, combined with the bitter cold and problems with the water supply, resulted in a great deal of damage to the building.

Despite a few spots where the fire was difficult to reach, the firefighters were able to get things contained fairly quickly, starting to pack up at around 11:00 PM. The team arrived back at the garage at about 11:30.

The Disaster Action Team was called out to a house fire on Dog Creek Road on December 30, 2009 at about 4:15 AM. 3 members of the team responded, arriving at the fire just after 5 AM.

The Middlepoint Fire Department was in charge of the scene, receiving assistance from the Grover Hill, Ottawa, and Scott departments. While the firefighters did their best, the spread of the fire before they arrived, as well as the lack of a close source of water prevented them from saving the home. They were able to prevent the fire from damaging other buildings on the property, but the house was a complete loss, along with a couple of cars and one shed that was burning before the departments arrived.

The DAT again provided the firefighters with hot drinks, including hot coffee donated by Pak-A-Sak, as well as Gatorade and water. The Van Wert Walmart donated doughnuts brought by the DAT, and the Van Wert McDonalds donated breakfast sandwiches for the firefighters later in the morning. The drinks and food were very welcome to the firefighters working in the very cold temperatures.

The ERV and 2 members of the DAT remained on the scene until the fire was mostly out, arriving back at the garage at about 11:00 AM.

The Disaster Action Team was called out to a house fire in Willshire at about 4:30 AM on December 9, 2009. 3 members of the team responded, arriving at the fire scene at about 5:15 AM.

There were trucks and firefighters from 4 fire departments on the scene, including Willshire, Wren, Rockford, and Chatt. They managed to prevent the total loss of the home, but it was badly damaged by the fire and water.

The DAT members provided services to the home owners, as well as hot coffee, hot chocolate, Gatorade, and water to the firefighters. They were also able to pass out doughnuts donated by the Van Wert Walmart and breakfast sandwiches provided by the Van Wert McDonalds. After the fire was out, the team made it back to the garage by about 9:00 AM that morning.

Thank you to all the Volunteers of the American Red Cross, United Way, and Vantage Career Center Students and Teachers, and Mark Hartman for a very successful blood drive at Trinity Friends Church on September 25^th, 2009.

Thank you to Butlers Bakery for the sandwich buns, Cooper Farms for the Turkey, and the Culinary Arts Class for the Vegetable Soup and Noodle Soup.

Thank you to all the donors for your help in saving a life.  There were 311 donors signed up and a total of 285 Units of blood collected.

Barbara A. Hesseling receives 11 Gallon pin from Red Cross Volunteer Diane Stewart

Marilyn Bebout had a good experience donating blood while the Red Cross Blood Drop posed for the picture.

The Van Wert Chapter of the American Red Cross is now taking orders for Premium Quality Nuts and Candy. They make ideal gifts for teachers, boy scout/girl scout leaders, church leaders, holidays or just anyone you wish to show your appreciation to.  The nuts and candy are packaged in one pound bags and will be here in early November in time for the holidays.

Call (419-238-9977) or stop in at the office (208 E. Main St. Van Wert) to receive an order blank.  This is our once a year major fundraiser to help fund the services the American Red Cross delivers to the residents of Van Wert County all year long.

The Disaster Action Team was called out for a house fire in Convoy at just after midnight, Thursday morning. 4 members of the team responded, getting on the road by 12:25 and reaching the scene by 12:50 AM.

The Convoy Fire Department was the only department that responded, and while they prevented the loss of the home, there was major damage, including holes in the roof. The DAT provided coffee, Gatorade, and water to the fire fighters and gave aid to the family that lived in the house.

After making sure the fire was out, the fire fighters began cleaning up and released the DAT, who arrived back at the garage at about 3:30 AM.

The Disaster team was called out to a house fire in Payne, OH on July 28, 2009 in support of the Paulding County Red Cross. The call was received at around 10 AM, and 3 team members responded and were the way to Payne by 10:30.

Three departments had responded to the fire, the Payne Fire Department, the Paulding Fire Department, and the Antwerp Fire Department. They were all still actively fighting the fire when the DAT arrived, and were happy to get a resupply of cold water and Gatorade.

Because of the length of time the fire fighters had already spent at the scene, and the long way they had to go to get the fire under control and everything cleaned up, the Disaster Team made arrangements to get food to them. The Van Wert Pizza Hut and the Paulding McDonalds both generously donated food to the fire fighters at the scene.

The departments had the fire out and were waiting on some heavy equipment to get to any remaining hot spots when the Disaster Team was released. They arrived back at the garage at about 3:30 PM.