Polk Red Cross helps Lake Wales family of six after fire

LAKE WALES, FL (July 17, 2009) — Late Friday night, American Red Cross volunteers helped a family of six, displaced by a home fire.

Volunteers arrived at 10:30 p.m., July 17, at the scene of a fire on Tindel Camp Road in Lake Wales, which had displaced one adult and five children. Volunteers provided the family with temporary shelter, emergency assistance for groceries and clothing, comfort kits (personal hygiene items), odor-control concentrate to help salvage items from the home, and six Red Cross T-shirts.

Any disaster, large or small, can be devastating to a family. This incident represented the third family affected by fire in two days in Polk County. In the last 12 months, the American Red Cross Polk County Chapter has helped more than 190 families in Polk and Highlands Counties after local disasters, most of them home fires. Please take every precaution and follow fire safety tips to prevent fires in your home, and please support your local Red Cross.

Learn to prevent fire from the Polk County Chapter at (863) 294-5941, visit http://polkcountyfl.redcross.org, or visit the American Red Cross Mid-Florida Region web site at www.midfloridaredcross.org.