Northwest Indiana Red Cross says help for fire victims needed every day

Fires that impact large numbers of people in apartment complexes tend to get the most attention, but the American Red Cross knows smaller blazes impact families nearly every day.

"This happens all the time," said Gordon Johnson, chief executive officer of the American Red Cross of Northwest Indiana in Merrillville. "People need help on a consistent basis, and we do all we can to provide that to them."

Johnson said one to four families each week are impacted by single-family home fires, but it generally is only the large fires at apartment buildings that gain media attention. In addition to Tuesday's fire at the Shelby Place Apartments in Hobart that left eight families homeless, there was a fire in a 12-unit building at the Mansard's in Griffith on Sunday and another earlier this year in a 24-unit building at the Cressmoor Arms Apartments in Hobart, he said.

"The only way to provide the same level of assistance (to victims) is through financial assistance," he said. "If people were to make a donation of material goods and items for one fire, not everyone can benefit and we can't store and distribute them here anyway."

Johnson said the Merrillville office does not accept donations for victims of specific fires or donated items such as clothing or toiletries.

When fires happen in large apartment complexes, Johnson said, building owners often are able to relocate victims to empty apartments. That wasn't the case in the latest Hobart fire, where the two-story, eight-unit building was destroyed.

In the fire at the Shelby Place Apartments, Hobart officials contacted the American Red Cross, which had a Family Service Center established by 8:30 a.m. and provided firefighters and displaced residents with food. Johnson said the Red Cross has assisted 18 people impacted by the Shelby Place fire and has distributed $2,500 in financial assistance to them.

"Any residents who haven't sought services from us are starting to come into our offices now," he said Wednesday morning.

The Merrillville office of the American Red Cross of Northwest Indiana serves all of Lake, Jasper and Newton counties.