Calaveras County, CA…Ask the average person about the American Red Cross and chances are they will mention disasters like the Butte fire and floods, tornados, hurricanes. But most of the disasters American Red Cross volunteers in Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Amador counties respond to are single-family home fires. Since last October, volunteers have responded 20 times to assist families (119 adults and 37 children) that were devastated by a home fire.

At the scene of a fire, Red Cross volunteers work side-by-side with firefighters and other emergency personnel to ensure victims are given immediate relief. Immediate relief means getting them what they need most without waiting a day or more — food, lodging, clothing, medication replacement, and mental health counseling. In the days following a disaster, the Red Cross continues to work with families while they find ways to rebuild their lives.
We are currently recruiting new members to join our existing Disaster Action Team (DAT) members in the Mother Lode. “Our goal is to have enough volunteers to cover each of the 3 Counties so that when a disaster strikes, large or small, the Red Cross can be ready and arrive on scene within two hours,” said Disaster Program Manager Debbie Calcote.
Upcoming training, both online and in-classroom, will train volunteers to:
• Respond to disaster calls, large and small, appropriately when on call
• Perform disaster assessments
• Assist in opening, operating and closing a shelter
• Provide Red Cross services to individuals without regard to race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age or handicap
Upon successful completion of approximately 6.5 hours of DAT training, volunteers will be able to respond with other Red Cross volunteers to local disasters such as a home fire. Beyond that, an additional 11 hours of training will enable DAT volunteers to assist with opening and operating an evacuation shelter.
The American Red Cross will be hosting a general interest meeting at Round Table Pizza in Angels Camp on Tuesday, April 17 at 6 p.m. to answer questions. To attend or for more information, please email Dennis Lewis at dennis.lewis@redcross.org.

About the American Red Cross Gold Country Region
The Gold Country Region serves a twenty-four county territory including Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba counties. For more information, visit redcross.org/GoldCountry or cruzrojaamericana.org. Stay up to date by following us on Twitter or Facebook @ARCGoldCountry.