LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – More than 50 people have been displaced in house fires across the Las Vegas Valley in just the last three weeks, and the Red Cross of Southern Nevada has been assisting many of those families through the trauma and uncertainty of losing their home.
“We’re all human. Trauma impacts us, and we have to be there for each other, our neighbors. It’s critical,” said Lowell Smith, Disaster Program Manager for the Red Cross of Southern Nevada.
In one recent fire, a family not only lost their home, but also five cats.
MORE: 5 cats dead, 1 person treated after south Las Vegas fire
“That’s probably one of the hardest parts about my job is working with people impacted by the house fires and losing their pets. Unfortunately, it’s common, and it just magnifies the trauma that they go through,” Lowell said.
FOX5 was there Tuesday as the Red Cross surveyed the damage at the home in the week following the fire and provided the family with the resources they need for their specific situation.
“We talked about clothing. Her daughter is going into sixth grade, so she lost all of her school stuff, so education materials, potentially resources for those, books, notebooks. She mentioned her eyeglasses melted in the fire, so trying to get her resources to get her eyeglasses,” Lowell said.
This type of support for fire victims — both material and psychological — has been very much needed in the Las Vegas Valley, especially this month.
“What we’ve seen response-wise for house fires, at a level we’ve never seen before,” said Smith.
On July 5, 15 people were displaced in two separate house fires. On July 8, nine people were left without a home after another fire. Then, the next day, a fire at an apartment complex displaced 27 residents.
MORE: Apartment fire displaces nearly 30 people in northern Las Vegas
“The house fires that Las Vegas has been going through these last two weeks, it’s been incredible, I’ve never seen it,” said Smith.
Even though the demand for Red Cross services is high in the valley, the team also deploys to disasters across the country. They were in Texas and Florida recently, helping even more families navigate through trauma and loss.
If you’d like to help with these important efforts, the Red Cross does need more volunteers for its Disaster Action Team. For more information, click here.
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