Since March 23, the American Red Cross of Alaska has responded to 21 house fires and assisted 73 people.
Alex Fonteyn says that’s a noticeable increase, though the Red Cross isn’t sure why there’s been a spike.
With the increase in demand for volunteers, Fonteyn said the Red Cross has been coming up a little short…
Fonteyn: “We’re always looking for more volunteers who can actually respond to house fires and other types of disasters, work at shelters if we open a shelter, things like that. Certainly house fires being the most common, speaking with the families, getting them into hotels. We’re fairly short right now, so we’re just looking for anyone who has any kind of experience working with people in stressful situations or any type of emergency management, anything like that, if they’d just reach out to us and volunteer for us.”
Fires typically spike over the wintertime due to home heating-related incidents, but there’s no other clear reason for the rising number of blazes.
You can find out more about volunteering via the American Red Cross, Alaska website.
