Van Wert Co. Chapter

DAT members wait to help some EMTs.

The Van Wert County Disaster Action Team was called out at 2:40 pm on December 24 for a house fire in Van Wert. A large number of members were called out because the fire looked like it could affect an adjoining building.

Fortunately, the Van Wert Fire Department responded quickly and contained the fire to a single building. Some members of the DAT provided help to the building occupants, while others provided refreshments to the firefighters.

Watching as the VWPD make sure everything is safe.

After the fire was out, the Red Cross helped arrange for some students from Starr Commonwealth to come in and help remove valuables from the house before it was boarded up. The students were a big help in getting things moved out.

The final members of the DAT that were on site left after the families got what they could from the building.

The DAT was called out Sunday night to give assistance to the Grover Hill Fire Department at a house fire in Grover Hill. The Paulding County Red Cross assisted the occupants of the home, while the 2 members of the Van Wert team that answered the call helped keep the fire department warm in the freezing temperatures.

Night at the shelter.

Friday December 19th, 2008 The American Red Cross responded to a request from the local EMA that there were people out of power and needing a shelter.  The Van Wert schools offered a shelter in their Goedde Building at 205 W. Crawford Street.  At 5:00 PM the shelter was opened for business.

We received our first guests at 5:15 as tenants from Homestead Village were registered and admitted to the shelter.  We sheltered 12  people and provided  dinner and snacks.  Saturday brought a drop in temperatures and high winds which compounded the problems for Van Wert.  As power was turned on our clients were able to go home, only to have the power off again and they returned.

Saturday the shelter provided relief to 7 guests for the night.   Red Cross served 40 snacks and 47 meals over the two and 1/2 days.  By 4:00 PM Sunday, power was restored and clients were able to return to their homes.  As the shelter was closing the Red Cross received notification that one person had lost power to their apartment and the Red Cross put that person up in a hotel for the night.

The Red Cross would like to thank the following organizations for their help and support during the storm.

• McDonalds
• Van Wert City Schools (Goedde Building and custodians)
• Klostermans
• WalMart
• Hong Kong Buffet
• Burger King
• Wendy’s
• Family Video
• Counsel on Aging
• Fountain Inn
• Grief Bros. (For the donation of  storage barrels)

A Disaster Action Team was called out for a house fire at 4:30 AM on December 13, 2008. Three members of the team responded initially, arriving at the fire at about 5:00 AM.

The fire was a large one, causing Wren to ask for help from 3 other departments, Convoy, Ohio City, and Willshire. The cold temperature and winds blowing the smoke and mist from the hoses out over the road and the equipment parked there made things difficult.  Fortunately, there were no injuries. The Red Cross offers a respite where the firemen are able to come in and warm up.

Upon arriving, the DAT members quickly set up to pass out coffee, hot chocolate, water, or energy drinks to any of the first responders that wanted some. The coffee and hot chocolate were both very popular, with the temperature well below freezing.

After about three hours  the DAT started making calls to arrange for food for the firemen.  Burger King, McDonald’s, and the night manager at Walmart generously provided breakfast sandwiches and doughnuts for the 4 departments. The food was picked up and delivered to the site by a 4th DAT member, who stayed to help for several more hours.

At a bit before 9:00 AM, the Ohio City and Willshire departments were able to head home. The remaining units, along with the Red Cross ERV, were moved into the driveway to allow the road to be opened up.  ODOT put salt down to cut the ice caused from the mist from the hoses over a long stretch of the road.

Two disaster action team (DAT) members remained until approximately 11:00 AM, finally leaving when the fire was nearly out.

The American Red Cross has designated Saturday, December 6 as “Help America Saturday” in Ohio as part of its efforts to reach the $100 million fundraising goal for the Campaign for Disaster Relief.

The Van Wert County Chapter will be having a fundraising event at the Walmart at the Town Center from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm. The local Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) will be there, and they will be giving out coffee, hot chocolate, and prizes to donors. Please visit the volunteers there and donate as much as you can.

After the event

The event at Walmart went much better than expected, with the very cold temperatures keeping people home. But there were volunteers willing to spend the time at Walmart, and they helped raise funds for both local and National Disaster Relief efforts.

A Red Cross Bloodmobile will be held Friday December 19, 2008 at the VFW.

The DAT was called in the afternoon of November 3, 2008 for a single house fire. 4 members of the team responded, one driving directly, 3 in the ERV.

The fire was a small electrical fire, which the Van Wert Fire Department had out before the ERV arrived. The team handed out several energy drinks to the members of the department, helping them rehydrate on the warm day. There was little damage to the house, but the power was shut off, so the team was there for a couple of hours, helping the clients make arrangements for a place to stay.

ERV at early morning fire.

The DAT was called to a chimney fire, early in the morning of October 22, 2008. 4 members of the team rode the ERV to the fire, where they found 6 members of the family outside, 4 children and 2 adults. Most of them were missing their shoes and all of them were lacking some form of clothing.

The DAT quickly got the children bundled into blankets in the ERV, and handed out hot chocolate to them. They also set up refreshments for the men of the fire department, including hot coffee, energy drinks, and hot chocolate. Since it was one of the first nights when the temperature started dropping, the hot drinks were appreciated by the firemen.

2 units of the VWFD at an early morning chimney fire.

Fortunately there was little damage to the house or its contents, so after the fire department finished their walk through and inspection, the family was able to go back inside and get some clothing and a pair of  shoes. The DAT was there just over two hours, until after the fire department was gone and the family was set with a place to go.