Check Out the Red Cross in Action
2:57 p.m. Fire!
The Red Cross Emergency Communications Center
learns over the Fire Department scanner, which is always on, that an
apartment building on Lenox Road in Brooklyn is on fire. The
dispatcher confirms the fire with the Fire Department and
immediately deploys an Emergency Services Responder.
3:02 p.m. Second Alarm!
The fire has increased in intensity – the Fire
Department assigns a second alarm response. The Red Cross dispatcher
contacts a Field Operations Supervisor to alert him about the fire
and its location.
3:10 p.m. Three Alarms!
Six minutes later the fire has escalated to a
three-alarm blaze. While the Field Operations Supervisor heads out
to the scene, the rest of the Disaster Services staff springs into
action by recruiting volunteers who will help the families who live
in the burning building. A trained Red Cross worker rushes to the
scene and begins providing families with food, clothing, medicine
and other necessities. The Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) provides
hundreds of cold drinks on this very hot day for both the families
and the emergency personnel working to control the fire.
3:27 p.m. The fire rages on!
The Fire Department elevates the seriousness of
the blaze to a four-alarm fire.
3:59 p.m. Red Cross personnel are at the chaotic scene.
Many displaced residents mill about watching in
dismay as their home and belongings burn. Concerned neighbors come
to the scene to try and help.
Red Cross representatives register residents and work with
the fire department and the Office of Emergency Management to develop a plan
to help the families in the coming days.
4:16 p.m. Red Cross work continues.
Staff members report that there are 20 to 25
apartments per floor. We are looking at potentially 250 apartments
affected.
5:24 p.m. Under control, at last.
The fire is extinguished. After making sure that
there are no areas still burning, the Fire Department leaves the
scene and leaves the residents in the good hands of the Red Cross.
7:09 p.m.
Red Cross experts determine that one wing of the
building has been directly affected with water and/or fire damage.
7:10 p.m. The Red Cross opens a Reception Center at
a local school.
Now displaced residents are provided with hot
meals and a cool place to stay. Those who have lost everything are
given an allowance for clothing and food, and for medications and
eyeglasses lost in the fire. Trained social workers and volunteer
mental health counselors provide emotional support to those who need
it. And residents of the building who have no relatives or friends
with whom they can stay are brought to a local hotel.
8:30 p.m. During the next five hours, registration continues.
Food is served to newcomers and those who have
returned from work to find that their apartment has been damaged in
the fire.
The Reception Center remains open for three more days in
order to help people get back on their feet.
As
the leader of the weekly Disaster Action Team that roams the city searching
for ways to help victims of an emergency, Nick Graziano is an incredible
volunteer.
Click here to see what the New York Daily News wrote about him.
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