By Gordon Williams There is a broad-based campaign underway to reduce the peril of wildfires and you are most cordially invited to take part in it. Leading the drive are the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the U.S. Forest Service, the National Fire Protection Assn (NFPA) and the American Red Cross. Goal … Continue reading HOW TO JOIN THE ALL-OUT WAR ON WILDFIRES
Mental Health Tips for 2021
By Jennifer Astion May is Mental Health Awareness Month and a great time for each of use to tune into our own wellbeing in this stage of the pandemic. Dan Mosley, Disaster Mental Health volunteer for the King County/NW Region Red Cross, reflected on some of the challenges we are all facing in the spring … Continue reading Mental Health Tips for 2021
Making the most of volcano preparedness month in Washington
By Gordon Williams May is Volcano Preparedness Month in Washington State--a reminder that Mount St, Helens blew its top on a day in May in 1980, and a chance to learn how to coexist with the state’s array of dangerously active volcanoes. In announcing Volcano Preparedness Month, the U,S. Geological Survey (USGS) says the event … Continue reading Making the most of volcano preparedness month in Washington
Why I Volunteer: Siri Bhatt
By Jennifer Astion Siri Bhatt is a virtual presenter for the Home Fire Campaign in Disaster Cycle Services. “I educate and inform local residents through virtual calls about home fire safety, how to prepare a home fire escape plan, and what to do when there is an earthquake,” she explained. To schedule a Home Fire Education … Continue reading Why I Volunteer: Siri Bhatt
Prepare now for this year’s threatening wildfire season
A hillside on fire as seen from Brewster, WA, September 2020 By Gordon Williams In most years, wildfires don’t become a serious threat in Washington until mid-summer when the days heat up and vegetation dries out. Things seem to be going a different way in 2021, with fires coming much earlier and much more frequently … Continue reading Prepare now for this year’s threatening wildfire season
How our virtual Home Fire Campaign can help save lives
April 27, 2019. Capitol Heights, Maryland. Photo by Dennis Drenner/American Red Cross By Gordon Williams The intent of the Red Cross Home Fire campaign is straightforward enough: to reduce home fire deaths by teaching fire safety lessons and by installing smoke alarms in households that don't have them. If times were normal, Red Cross … Continue reading How our virtual Home Fire Campaign can help save lives
Summer fires plus winter rain raise landslide danger
By Gordon Williams The drenching rains of fall and winter have ended the summertime danger of wildfires in Washington state. But now the sequence of fire and rain has set the stage for yet another potential disaster — landslides and mudslides. Thus, heavy rain brought a recent mudslide warning to parts of Western Washington — … Continue reading Summer fires plus winter rain raise landslide danger
The rules for Winter Holiday fire safety
By Gordon Williams It’s December, meaning we are deep into the winter holiday season. Hanukkah starts December 10; Christmas Day is the 25th and Kwanzaa starts on the 26th. Since all three celebrations include elements that can lead to home fires, we are also deep into the holiday home fire season. The best way to … Continue reading The rules for Winter Holiday fire safety
How to stay safe from holiday kitchen fires
By Gordon Williams We’re well into the winter holiday season, meaning we’re well into the kitchen fire season. “Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home injuries,” says the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a non-profit entity, founded in 1896 that works to reduce death, injury and property loss due to … Continue reading How to stay safe from holiday kitchen fires
Driving rules for a pandemic holiday season
By Gordon Williams February 6, 2018. Photo by Sanja Tabor for the American Red Cross. If this was a normal year, we’d be preparing for the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday travel season and you would be reading lots about how to stay safe on crowded wintry roads. It is far from a normal year, and the best advice … Continue reading Driving rules for a pandemic holiday season
American Red Cross NW Region 