By: Divya Kumar

As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to grip Southeastern Pennsylvania, Red Cross disaster responders have had to adapt the way they deliver immediate recovery assistance, like temporary hotel lodging and emotional support. These new protocols are being tested daily with calls to help those displaced by fires, and recently, one of those fires claimed a life.  

Earlier this month, a 25-year-old man in Kensington was taking his dog out one last time before heading to bed, when the home he shared with his girlfriend and two uncles caught fire. While his girlfriend was safe, the fire claimed the life of one of his uncles and damaged the home so extensively that no one could return to live there.   

Disaster Action Team volunteer Fred Lehman had to absorb all of this information when his phone rang at 1:30 a.m. Lehman, a former Assistant Fire Chief in his non-Red Cross career, got the details he needed and sprung to action for a virtual response.  

FaceTime is the main way virtual responders connect with people on the scene to get more details and assess the situation. “The man’s girlfriend had an iPhone and we were able to FaceTime with the residents through his girlfriend’s iPhone,” Lehman said. 

After getting exactly what he needed to push the next step of the response into action, he and another volunteer, Griff Schrack, put on masks and other safety gear and dropped off a packet with assistance to those displaced, and volunteers trained in emotional support reached out as well.    

“Virtual is hard,” stressed Lehman, referring the extra layers of technology volunteers have to now work through to get information they would normally be able to gather all at once at the scene of a fire. But as the word volunteer suggests, they do it willingly. As a retired firefighter, Lehman has seen the toll a fire, especially a deadly one, can take on families and even whole neighborhoods. That knowledge is what pushes him to volunteer his nights and sacrifice his sleep to make sure the Red Cross can get help into the hands of those who need it.  

 “I understand what the firemen are saying, and I know what to ask to get the situation moving along,” he said.  

The Disaster Health Services team also followed up with the family, as did a trained recovery specialist in order to make sure they got the support they needed.  

Under these especially tough circumstances, the teamwork of this special group of Red Cross disaster workers is shining through stronger than ever.