Diane Gonzales, left, executive director of the Tierra del Sol chapter of the Red Cross, Steven Bond, director of emergency services, and Dorothy Pineda, service delivery coordinator, look at a Rio Arriba County map at the chapter's offices in Española. Photo by Kay Roybal, Community Relations (CRO) Office
Seven volunteers from Española's Tierra del Sol Red Cross chapter were dispatched to Florida and Alabama in September to help hurricane victims, many of whom are still living in damaged homes and lack essential services. But the organization, a recipient of United Way funding, also helps local folks cope with disasters that are equally devastating.
"Rio Arriba County has the highest number of single-family home fires in the state and the most expensive," said Steven Bond, the chapter's director of emergency service. "When it gets cold, house fires really pick up. Because we have so many trailers and the response areas are so large, these homes often burn to the ground.
"When big disasters hit, people will call and want to help," he said. "But these small tragedies are often overlooked."
The Española chapter, organized in 2002, is housed in a donated building and equipped with donated furniture and supplies. Dorothy Pineda, the office's service delivery coordinator, is a fulltime volunteer who sets up and conducts classes in first aid, CPR, use of an automated external defibrillator and professional rescue. She and her volunteer staff also coordinate some of the agency's fundraising activities, including the annual rose sale at Easter. They staff a booth at local health fairs and the annual Española Spirit Day, where they also provide first aid to victims of the heat and sun.
During the summer months, Red Cross volunteers provide canteen services -- water and snacks -- to firefighters dealing with brush fires and larger blazes and for search and rescue crews looking for lost or injured hikers. In the course of their work, they are always seeking new volunteers.
"During last summer's fire up in Truchas, two of us went up to the school to open a shelter," Pineda said. "As soon as the Red Cross sign went up, people started to flock in wanting to help, so we trained them to run the shelter."
When a family loses their home to fire or flood, the Red Cross provides them with motel rooms, restaurant meals and vouchers for new clothes.
"We give them a foot on the ground and change them from victims to clients," said Gonzales. "We try to get a team to the scene within two hours of being notified. We ask the fire chiefs to call us as soon as they realize that they are dealing with an occupied structure. We don't want the family to be alone after the fire department leaves."
The staff maintains close ties with volunteer fire departments in their service area to make sure clients are identified. Recently the Velarde volunteer fire department responded to a fire where the residents weren't home. Because they found a crib in the burned structure, the Red Cross staff asked the fire department to leave a note with contact information for the family to find when they returned home.
"[The family] found our note and called us the next day and we were able to help them get back on their feet," Pineda said.
The Tierra del Sol Red Cross chapter covers nine counties and calls on about 450 volunteers for administrative, health and safety and disaster response. They also can help with referrals to other agencies for help with mental health and other issues.
Gonzales said there are two major misconceptions about the work the agency performs.
"The first one is that we receive funding from our national office or from the government," she said. "We do not. We are chartered to provide these services, but they leave it to us to find the funding. The second is that New Mexico isn't a disaster-prone state, which we certainly are," she said.
Bond pointed out that because of the area's potential for catastrophic fires, there is a need for a great deal of preparation in order to have the people and systems in place when they are needed. Part of Bond's job involves working with local motels, restaurants and retailers to obtain vouchers for goods and services that will be needed when disaster strikes.
"A big part of our function involves educating people about what we do, and that our volunteers are available 24/7 when we are needed," Bond said.
--Kay Roybal
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