World photo/Mike Bonnicksen
A fire at the Racquet Club Condos just below Skyline Drive in Wenatchee on Saturday was among the 13 fires in the Apple Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross’s service area since July 1.
When fire damaged their rental home in Chelan on Aug. 4, Destiny Fogle-Carlton and Jim Carlton were strapped for cash.
“We had just moved from Michigan and I had just gotten a job,” Fogle-Carlton said. “My husband had a job at Safeway, but we had just paid all these bills and didn’t have much left over.”
Because of smoke and fire damage, the couple, with a 2-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, couldn’t live in the house and they wondered what they would do. Then a firefighter suggested they call the American Red Cross. “It was a great blessing,” Fogle-Carlton said. “They got us connected with a motel where we could find comfort after that traumatic event.”
The Chelan couple is among a record number of people helped by the Apple Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross since July 1, said Marriah Thornock, executive director of the chapter. The chapter covers Chelan, Douglas and Grant counties and part of Lincoln County.
For that period this year, the Red Cross has helped 57 people who have been involved in residential fires, Thornock said. The total number of fires was 13.
Destiny Fogle-Carlton
Helped by Red Cross after home burned
The 10-year average for that time period is 5.6 fires, Thornock said. The previous high number of fires for that period, going back 10 years, was six in 2008.
For the same period last year, the Red Cross chapter helped 22 people, and the total number of fires was five.
Thornock said she does not know what could be causing the rise in fires but suspects that, overall, it’s because the poor economy is forcing people to live in larger groups.
“With multiple generations or a combined family living in one place, there is going to be more combustible stuff around that can catch fire,” she said.
She also speculated that the bad economy means fewer people have much in savings, so they need more help in an emergency.
Stan Smoke, Wenatche fire chief and a local Red Cross board member, said he has not noticed a significant increase in the number of fires in Wenatchee. He said he did not know why there would be more fires in the larger Red Cross service area.
Chuck Fenton, fire chief for Douglas County Fire District 2 in East Wenatchee, said he has not noticed an increase in the number of fires in his district this summer and fall.
Locally, Thornock said, the Red Cross gets its funding from United Way of Chelan and Douglas counties. She urged people who want to help the Red Cross to donate to United Way.
Thornock added that the Red Cross is teaming up with local fire departments to work with people who call in and ask for smoke detectors or ask for help to make sure their detectors are working correctly.
People wanting help should contact the Red Cross at 663-3907 or the Wenatchee Fire Department at 664-3950.
Funds for the smoke detector project are from State Farm Insurance and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Chelan couple are now back in their rental home and they learned that the fire, which was limited to the master bathroom and a hallway, was caused by a short in a ceiling fan.
“What could have been really scary for the kids turned out to be fun, with the kids and us in a hotel with a swimming pool,” Fogle-Carlton said. “It was a mini vacation — for them, not us.”
Dee Riggs: 664-7147
deeriggs@wenatcheeworld.com