“Being able to offer them something — just a warm shower and to get clean — how good that always feels,” said Rockland Fire Chief Chris Whytock.

As the number of Red Cross volunteers has dwindled in the Midcoast, former Union Assistant Fire Chief Bill Packard has stepped in with a small, yet potentially valuable gesture in hopes of helping those facing the traumas generated by house fires. On Wednesday, April 6, Packard made his first delivery.

With the help of matching funds from an anonymous donor, Packard has purchased 50 personal hygiene kits that include soap, shampoo, and deodorant. Each has a personalized sticker that reads: Our thoughts are with you. May God bless.

The first kits are now in the possession of Rockland Fire and EMS, to be distributed if and when a need becomes apparent.

“They’ve been through this traumatic event, and they are convinced – especially if they haven’t been inside – they are convinced that they have lost everything of value,” said Packard. “And, they get to the relative’s house: ‘I don’t have a toothbrush. I don’t have any shampoo. I don’t have any deodorant. I don’t have anything.’”

Packard’s donations will directly support area residents through fire departments in Rockland, Warren, Camden, Owls Head, Cushing, Union, Washington, Thomaston, Vinalhaven, North Haven, Appleton and Waldoboro.  All other departments will be supported indirectly through the Knox County Mutual Aid, which also includes Lincolnville, Waldoboro, and Islesboro.

“It was just a small thing. A very small thing,” said Packard, who came up with the idea six months ago after noticing that a lot of house fires were happening. “But it’s something that the departments can give out and say ‘Hey, here’s something that can at least get you started.’”

As amazed as Packard is with the generous community around him, he also knows that the community isn’t usually spurred to action until days later. According to Packard, helping the victims through those first nights is equally important and often unrecognized.

Knox County EMA Director Ray Sisk can attest to the value of the sentiment. He had a house fire in the 1980s. He found himself expressing a similar sentiment: I don’t even have deodorant.

“It’s a nice thing to be able to offer somebody who has nothing,” he said. “Or feel like they have nothing, at least for that first couple of hours when they are pretty desperate for the stuff.”

Knox County EMA gets involved a lot with assisting displaced residents during storms, according to Sisk. The Red Cross does the same for fires, but more volunteers are needed.

“If somebody is having a real emergency, and they just don’t have a place to go, and it’s ten below zero out, and they can’t stay in their house – the power’s out – typically we can find some place,” he said. “We know a lot of people, we know how to get help. We plug ourselves in where we can, and back up the local EMA directors.”

Often, the EMA for each municipality is the fire chief. Sometimes, however, it’s the town manager, or the post office director, or someone else. Sometimes, finding lodging for displaced residents is challenging. And, if the EMA is a fire chief who is busy managing the fire itself, the needs of a resident on that first night can be difficult to focus on.

For the firefighters on scene, saying no can be tough when victims asks for their personal belongings to be retrieved. Even when a fire is contained to a single room or area of the house, smoke damage can affect the entire structure.

“A lot of times, we have people saying, ‘well I need to get my medication,’ or ‘I want to get this and that,”” said Whytock. “Because we understand the carcinogens and everything that are derived from smoke, we typically don’t let people take that stuff out.”

Whytock, who is also president of the Knox County Mutual Aid Association, is pleased to be able to offer another option.

“I feel like it would be of value,” he said. “I feel like they’ll appreciate it.”

For people displaced by house fires, find more information at redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/fire/home-fire-recovery.html

and

redcross.org/get-help/disaster-relief-and-recovery-services.html

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com