Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – It’s a long way from Presque Isle to San Diego, but a trip Woodland’s Romeo Bouchard didn’t mind making.
A member of the American Red Cross – Pine Tree Chapter Disaster Services team, Bouchard flew out of the Northern Maine Regional Airport last Thursday morning to help the California wildfire relief effort.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
ROMEO BOUCHARD, left, of Woodland, flew out of Presque Isle last Thursday morning to help the California wildfire relief effort. Wildfires that started Oct. 21 across Southern California are now being contained, and at last count, seven people have died. In addition, more than a half-million acres have burned, destroying more than 2,300 structures, including 1,700 homes. Bouchard is a member of the American Red Cross – Pine Tree Chapter Disaster Services team. He will be stationed in San Diego and will do assessments on the needs of the people in California to see whether they need shelter, food, clothes, mental health or medical care. Here, Bouchard goes over a few last-minute details with Joyce Knorr, branch manager of the Presque Isle office of the American Red Cross – Pine Tree Chapter, before departing.
Wildfires that started Oct. 21 across Southern California are now being contained, and at last count, seven people have died. In addition, more than a half-million acres have burned, destroying more than 2,300 structures, including 1,700 homes.
“I’ve been a member of the disaster services team since 1995,” said Bouchard, 54. “I think this will be my 15th time I’ve gone to help with relief efforts. Over the last 12 years, I’ve gone to New Orleans, Montgomery, Ala., Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.
“I’ll be helping clients fill out a 901, which is a long form we fill out with all the information that we need. We’ll give residents what’s called a Client Assistance card, or CAT card, which gives them the amount of money they need to live on to get them back on their feet. I’ll be doing assessments on the needs of the people in California to see whether they need shelter, food, clothes, mental health or medical care.”
Bouchard, who will be stationed in a school that will act as a service center, found out last Wednesday he would be traveling to California.
“I knew around 4 p.m. I’d be going,” he said. “Mentally, I’m always ready to go, and I always have a suitcase packed by the door. All I really had to do was get my bills all organized and ready to be paid, so my wife, Starr, can pay them when I’m gone.”
The American Red Cross – Pine Tree Chapter, which serves the eight eastern and northern Maine counties of Aroostook, Washington, Piscataquis, Penobscot, Hancock, Waldo, Knox and Lincoln – has sent three volunteers including Bouchard. The other disaster services team members hail from Warren and Ellsworth.
According to Joyce Knorr, branch manager of the Presque Isle office of the American Red Cross – Pine Tree Chapter, there are about 15 members on the disaster services team.
“We have a Disaster Services Human Resources system that we’re all registered in as volunteers,” she said. “We fill out an information sheet where we list certain conditions that we cannot be around. For example, I couldn’t go to California right now because I’m allergic to smoke and dust. We also specify on the form if we want to stay local, travel statewide, or travel nationally or internationally. All that information is put into a computer system, so when we have a disaster like this, the American Red Cross will reach out and contact those who will fit the present situation.
“We still offer this opportunity to all of our volunteers,” said Knorr. “We send out an e-mail and call, and if they’re interested, we can get them into the system to go either nationally or internationally.”
While the cost of airfare and accommodations is covered by the American Red Cross, the volunteers, like Bouchard, are not reimbursed financially.
“I get the satisfaction of helping people,” he said, noting that he will probably be working nine to ten hours a day. “If we go out and do outreach services, we’ll see the fire damage firsthand. Outreach is when you go to someone’s home and make sure it’s stable enough for the people to go in. I’ll probably be doing some of that as part of my casework.
“It’s kind of hard to see homes destroyed like that,” said Bouchard, “but you’re out there to help the client, not for yourself.”
Bouchard will be in California for three weeks, and will return home Nov. 15.
“This is a perfect example of how our volunteers are Red Cross ready, and the dedication they have,” said Knorr. “You have to have a real passion and desire to want to do this, and an understanding family. It’s like being in the military … at the drop of a hat you have to be ready to deploy. I applaud Romeo and the others who go elsewhere to help. It’s all about people helping people, neighbors helping neighbors.”
“The Red Cross is a big family,” said Bouchard. “We all go where we need to be.”
Bouchard has received training over the years from the American Red Cross to acquire the skills needed to travel abroad.
“The training, sponsored by the American Red Cross, is free of charge,” said Knorr, “and we’re trying to do our training on a monthly to quarterly basis.”
In addition to sending volunteers, the American Red Cross has set up a Web site to help anxious friends and family members learn more about the safety of evacuees.
The Red Cross Safe and Well Web site, available to all people being evacuated in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas, is at www.redcross.org. This Internet tool allows people in disaster-affected areas to register their well-being using several pre-scripted messages. Family and friends can log on and search for registered individuals to learn of their whereabouts and safety. People without access to a computer can call the Red Cross (1-800-REDCROSS) to contact a loved one or register on their behalf.
The Safe and Well Web site safeguards disaster victim privacy. Although messages will be viewable by friends or family members who conduct a successful search, the site does not reveal a specific location or contact information.
Knorr reminds local residents that Aroostook County is prone to wildfires just like in California.
“A few years ago there was a wildfire in Canada and we were getting some of that smoke here,” she said. “Can you imagine if it were here more on a local basis? We all need to look at being prepared – individually, as a family, and as a community.
“The Red Cross is available to teach and advise people how to prepare a disaster kit for up to three days,” said Knorr, “and we’re working very closely with the Aroostook County Emergency Management Agency to ensure that we have our Red Cross-approved community shelters. However, it’s up to individuals and families to ensure that they have a plan and kit in place.”
Donations to the Red Cross are always needed.
“The average cost of one day of disaster is $1,285,” said Knorr. “It’s very expensive, and if people would like to make a donation locally, we certainly need the funds to make sure we have the availability to provide the immediate services – food, shelter, clothing, medical and mental health needs – for our own people should we have something occur where we have to immediately respond.”
The local Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross has responded since June to more than two dozen house fires including some caused by wildfire and grass fires.
For information on how to prepare for a disaster, including a list of items that should be included in a disaster supplies kit, go online at www.redcross.org or call the Pine Tree Chapter at 762-5671. Donations for the Pine Tree Chapter’s Local Disaster Relief Fund can be sent to 33 Mildred Avenue, Bangor, Maine 04401. Credit card donations can be made by phone or online at www.pinetree.redcross.org.
Donations to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of disaster, may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
