Now More Than Ever: Red Cross shares one family's home fire story
A Lexington Family’s Home Fire Story
The day began as a normal Saturday for the Banks. The family was doing housework and organizing just days before Christmas 2020. “The day was crisp and dry,” Suzan Banks recalled. She remembers sitting down in the family room and smelling what she thought was smoke from a wood burning furnace, but within a minute she recognized the smell changed. Her eyes peeled the living room and she sprang out of her seat. The garage at their Lexington home was engulfed in flames.
As smoke began filtering through the ceiling, Suzan jumped into action. As instructed by her husband, she started calling everyone to get out of the house. With smoke continuing to fill their home, Suzan rushed to get her teenage daughters, one of their friends and their pets outside. Within minutes, everyone escaped the home safely. Unfortunately, there was no time to rescue two of the family’s cats.
Family’s Needs Met After Disaster
In the days that followed, the Banks family began the first steps of recovery. They were supported by close friends, their church’s congregation and the Red Cross. Suzan says the Red Cross stepped in and reminded her about replacing essentials she hadn’t even considered, including the family’s medications for allergies and asthma.
“I didn’t even think of that and the Red Cross did,” said Suzan. “In the middle of the night when you’re having breathing difficulty you don’t have the luxury of thinking about ‘Where am I going to get a nebulizer? Where am I going to get an inhaler?”
Suzan is grateful that her family’s needs were taken care of in every moment. She appreciates the Red Cross for being a ‘piece of the pie.’
“When that Red Cross volunteer met us at night over Christmas in a parking lot in the cold dark and handed us a card, I couldn’t believe it,” Suzan cried. “The Red Cross came through for us in ways we didn’t even calculate. It’s really been a beautiful thing.”
There are many helpful resources available to help you and your loved ones prevent, prepare for and recover from disasters like a home fire. Visit redcross.org to find preparedness and coping tips, disaster checklists, videos and more.
Every day, Red Cross disaster-trained volunteers are in local communities working to prevent and alleviate human suffering. Last fiscal year, we provided food, shelter, and comfort to people in need, as well as casework, guidance, and other recovery assistance for disaster survivors. All Red Cross disaster assistance is free. We stand ready to respond alongside our partners should the need arise. Additionally, we can call on the support of Red Cross chapters nationwide for resources to help our neighbors in need following large-scale disasters.
