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Oct 12


10/12/2011 3:07 PM 

October is National Fire Prevention & Safety Month. Are you prepared? Get Safety Tips here!
The count is 2 and 2…
 
But I’m not expecting a slider to the outside from Carpenter to fill the count. Instead, I’m catching up from a very busy Tuesday.
 
Yesterday started as a beautiful day with a couple of planned shelter site visits and preparing for Northwest High School Career Day on Thursday (I will make sure to let the students know that they should plan for the unexpected).
 
Now, back to the count...
 
I was never very good in math so it took the ride home last night to put Tuesday (10-11-11) into perspective. Americorps member Erica Suhling and I made 2 shelter site visits in the morning to update American Disability Act (ADA) information. These visits build relationships in case of a large disaster and keep information current.
 
Upon arriving back at the office at about 1 p.m. we were told of a house fire not far from the office, so Erica and I moved. While en route, a 2nd alarm for the fire was called. After making sure the family of 2 was taken care of, we closed the truck hatch and command told us of another fire across the county that was just called in. Again we moved, and while making our way the 21 miles (missed the double here), a 2nd alarm was called. Similarly, it was a family of 2 adults with their grown children having moved out already. Sadly, in both cases, the couple’s four legged child did not make it out. As with the first couple, we made certain their emergency needs were taken care of and packed up our few remaining canteen supplies. As we collected the cups and water bottles from the ground, making certain there was not a stray Oreo wrapper to be found, we watched a beautiful full moon emerge from the clouds. We made it back to the office to prepare the Disaster Action Team (DAT) truck for the next run, topping off the fuel at 22.5 gallons (not realizing the numbers last night!)
 
Since I am not the superstitious type (knocking on wood, etc, etc…) I will use this obvious hint “2” for a cause. Take 2 minutes, and check your smoke detector tonight; it could save your life.
 
Dale
 
 
Dale Chambers is the Jefferson County Service Center Manager for the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter.
 

 

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