Tag: Northern Minnesota

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“They Would Ask: What Do You Need?”

Red Cross volunteer welcomed help and hope after devastating home fire

Sterling Molby and his two children survived a home fire experienced a devastating home fire in northern Minnesota. Submitted photo.

On the day Sterling Molby answered my call he was busy, very busy, searching for anything he could save from the debris being turned over during cleanup of his burned home before winter took hold of northern Minnesota. His dwelling was, for the most part, reduced to ash that needed to be boxed and shipped to a place that would accept it. He hunted for, and found, a small steel box with photos.

“I’m watching to see if anything is salvageable,” Molby said.

Looking through to the remains of Sterling Molby’s home. Photo: Athena Thomsen

The fire happened in October on a Saturday evening after he grilled steaks for his two children who ate up and then went to the basement to watch TV. Molby, upstairs and in a ‘food coma,’ noticed an orange glow outside on the deck and ran to get some blankets that he used to smother the flames of what quickly become an inferno engulfing his home. He ran to his children and together they fled to a neighbor. A 30-mile-an-hour western wind ramped the flames and made looking back a pain he never thought he’d experience.

“I checked on my kids again, sat in the front yard and watched my house burn,” Molby said.

“Local help has made the devastation a little easier,” said Sterling Molby, whose home, in Brainerd, Minnesota, burned down in October, 2022. Photo: Athena Thomsen

Molby knows tough times. He served on two deployments with the U.S. Army in Iraq where he witnessed the impact of explosives. He worked for years finding places to live for homeless veterans. These experiences led him to becoming an American Red Cross volunteer supporting blood collection as a drive coordinator for eleven years. Molby “knows how amazing the Red Cross is,” having been there, especially during his military service, seeing people use Red Cross services and being around it.

“I feel like I’m helping saving lives and what I do has value,” Molby said.

So, when a firefighter told him to call the Red Cross he did without hesitation and spoke to a disaster responder who gathered information and details about the fire and making sure Molby and his children had a place to stay. Within thirty minutes he received financial assistance for temporary lodging and other immediate relief. Red Cross responders followed up in the days after asking what, if anything, his family needed. He’s grateful for support from the Red Cross and other community groups, particularly those for veterans.

“The outreach has been humbling. Local help has made the devastation a little easier,” Molby said.

Since the fire, the ups and down have been as a friend told him they would be. Molby’s doing what he can to be there for his children during this traumatic event and its aftermath while also moving ahead with plans to rebuild. The fire spared his garage and woodworking tools, which he’ll use to start making his home, again

Story by Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross. Click here to learn more about and to support the work of Red Cross in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

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Five years on, Home Fire Campaign continues to save lives: 11 to date in Minnesota

Smoke alarm installation day, Federal Dam, August 17, 2016. Photo: Mike Auger

For five years, we’ve been working with our partners to install free smoke alarms in high-risk communities and help families create escape plans through our Home Fire Campaign.

Every day, seven people die in home fires in the U.S., most in homes that don’t have working smoke alarms. That’s why the Red Cross launched our national Home Fire Campaign in 2014. We would like to thank everyone for their support to help prevent these needless tragedies.

So far, the campaign has saved 11 lives (details below) in Minnesota. Across the country, the national campaign efforts have saved at least 638 lives.

Our local impact includes:

Local Lives Saved

  • In Two Harbors, two lives were saved in January, 2019.  Thanks to Red Cross volunteers Tim and John who had installed the smoke alarms before the fire as part of Home Fire Campaign activities a couple years ago.
  • In Virginia, three lives were saved on May 20, 2019. The family received notification of a fire through a Lifetone bed-shaker smoke alarm installed just three months prior. The special alarm helps alert people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Thanks to the entire Virginia Fire Department for supporting this effort.  For more, see this story by WDIO ABC News in Duluth.
  • In Federal Dam, six lives were saved on January 2, 2019. Special thanks to Red Cross volunteer Mike Auger who responded to the fire to help the family and also installed the smoke alarm in August, 2016.  Thanks to partners Federal Dam Fire Department and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. For more, see this story by KBJR NBC News in Duluth.

You Can Help
Home fires are the nation’s most frequent disaster, and while we can’t always stop them from happening, we can help ensure families are prepared. Please help us to sound the alarm about home fire safety and save lives. Visit soundthealarm.org/mn to learn how you can join us by becoming a volunteer or making a donation to support our lifesaving services.

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Fires do more than burn

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As part of a Red Cross disaster relief team, Rose Ingebrigtsen has responded to several house fires in northern Minnesota, including one in Virginia on January 26, 2016. Photo credit: Nancy Rogers/American Red Cross

By Rose Ingebrigtsen, an American Red Cross intern serving in northern Minnesota

When I saw that the American Red Cross serving Northern Minnesota was looking for a disaster services intern I was immediately interested. Even though I did not have any prior experience with the Red Cross personally, I knew it must be a great place to work. Why else would 330,000 volunteers nationwide serve for free? At this point I am mostly learning about disaster response and capacity building for The Pillowcase Project (a youth disaster preparedness program that the Red Cross is doing in partnership with Disney), which is great because I love doing hands on work and working directly with people.

That changed on Friday, January 22, when I was able to go on my first D.A.T. (Disaster Action Team) response with the Red Cross. I was a little nervous due to the fact I had never done anything like this before, but I was lucky enough to be accompanied by our local disaster program manager and seasoned D.A.T. captain Tony Guerra.

Before meeting with the affected resident, we drove to the address to see first-hand the condition of the burned house. Due to sketchy cell service and an unreliable maps app we couldn’t find the house, but it turned out there wasn’t much of a house left to find. Later, when we met our client, I quickly learned how hard it is to be really prepared for a house fire, and that no one knows exactly what to do after and much of their belongings are damaged or gone. This client was no different: all she had now were the clothes on her back and, luckily, her purse.

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In northern Minnesota local community members help the Red Cross provide basic comfort and care to people who have suffered a tremendous loss because of home fire and other disasters. Photo credit: Nancy Rogers/American Red Cross.

After we assessed our client’s needs and determined what steps she needed to take next we brought her a donated quilt, which she appreciated so much. Typically these quilts are made by local church groups, and then they are donated to disaster victims and military veterans through the Red Cross. Giving someone in need a quilt is, I think, fitting. Back in the day, imported fabric was expensive for the average person in America and it was difficult to find sufficient, affordable fabric locally. The solution was to salvage scraps of fabric and to sew together into a quilt. Today, after someone has a house fire family, friends, strangers, and the Red Cross come together like small pieces of fabric to help people rebuild their lives.

Before beginning this internship, I had no idea how many house fires there were in our area and the damage they do besides burning up the contents of your house: think smoke damage or water damage. Since my first response in January, I’ve had the opportunity to respond to two more fire disasters in northern Minnesota. I was struck by the devastation residents feel after losing much to all of their belongings, and how much Red Cross disaster relief is necessary and appreciated. I hope there will be fewer house fires in the area. But if there are more I hope I have the opportunity respond again, because I have enjoyed lending a hand and making a direct positive difference in someone’s life.

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Volunteer Spotlight: Melinda Wittmer

MelindaMeet Melinda Wittmer, a Disaster Services volunteer for the American Red Cross serving Northern Minnesota.

Melinda has been a Disaster Services volunteer since 2011, and is part of the Disaster Action Team (DAT). She also has recently taken on a new role with Volunteer Services – she’ll be interviewing prospective volunteers to introduce them to the volunteer opportunities at the Red Cross and help them find a good fit.

As a child, Melinda was introduced to the Red Cross as part of her home-school curriculum, in which her mother made the Red Cross a recurring theme. What Melinda took away from that was that the Red Cross “is a solid entity that is always there to help.”

Fast forward to Melinda’s adult life when she was working at a group home and became very close to an individual who turned into one of her favorite clients. His health declined and he was put on life support, and then eventually taken off. At that moment Melinda decided she wanted to do something good and help people. She went to the Red Cross office in Duluth, Minnesota, to ask a few questions, and was immediately “roped in.” Within minutes she was filling out an application, and the rest is history!

Melinda went on her first home fire call with one of the chapter’s most experienced volunteers.  Since then Melinda has responded to over 30 home fires.  Melinda says that the most satisfying part of being a disaster volunteer is “helping people who have experienced a devastating loss and seeing how grateful clients always are for the services of the American Red Cross.”

A few months ago Melinda went through the difficult experience of responding to an incident that involved a fatality. Additionally, it turned out that she was familiar with the person who died. Despite the difficulty involved in this response, Melinda took away the feeling that she was there for the family to help them with the “begin-again phase” of their lives.

The Red Cross has made Melinda more confident, and through her interactions and meeting other volunteers she has become interested in pursuing a career in Emergency Management.

Melinda certainly embodies the mission and fundamental principles of both the American Red Cross and Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement around the globe.  She’s always ready, willing and able to assist and a great comfort to those who have suffered a loss because of home fires and other disasters.

Story and photo by Nancy Rogers, Volunteer Services Coordinator for the American Red Cross serving Northern Minnesota.

To learn more about becoming a Red Cross volunteer, click here.

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