Thank you to the Arapahoe County Chapter of the American Red Cross, which was involved in setting up the Evacuation Center at Douglas County High School. (This is the chapter for Douglas County.)

Branch Manager Ron Liggett Liggett said that the Red Cross is set up to come into a community to give CPR and First Aid when EMTs are handling another emergency. They also give classes on these subjects. They also can provide organizations with information on emergency planning and preparedness. If your group is interested in any of these services, contact Arapahoe County Chapter of the Red Cross, 499 West Bellview Avenue, Englewood, CO 80110. PHONE: 303-781-5511 Or e-mail rliggett@denver-redcross.org. The Red Cross also welcomes your donations.

Thanks to Royann Cygan of The Hamlet, who provided this information and also reported on her experience at the Evacuation Center:

When Norb and I were at the Evacuation Center (DCHS) the evening of the fire, the amount of food and support services was impressive. There were probably 200+ dinners catered from the Outback, boxes and boxes from Pizza Hut, huge deli trays from King Soopers, baby formula and diapers, a huge supply of water and beverages, HOMEMADE muffins!, cookies, fruit, and probably much more that I didn’t notice. Also they had TVs set up on news channels, 2 computers set up for Internet access, telephones set up. There were sign-in and sign-out sheets to track the number of people who used the Center. Evacuees were asked to fill out a green questionnaire with name, address, phone number, contact phone numbers during evacuation, and where they were staying during evacuation. (FYI, Norb and I received a call at our son’s home at 7:45 a.m. on Thursday morning with the news that we could get back in.)

Also, the Evacuation Center provided a phone number that we could call at anytime for updates. … guess what, when we called at 4 a.m. we got a REAL person who told us the area would be reopened at 6 a.m.

Following is an example of the grateful reactions many in the CPN community had after being able to safely returning home:

From Bob & Cheryl Frankart:

I know they would modestly say they were only doing their jobs, but we know it was so much more than that. We’re residents of Tapestry Hills whose house backs to Buffalo Trail, and Wednesday night we didn’t know whether or not we’d have a home to return to. We’re grateful for the efforts of the firefighters and police and would like to express our appreciation in some way.

As reported in the article, the many signatures of appreciation that were collected during the past few weeks were presented to representatives of South Metro Fire District at the November 20 annual meeting. The Castle Pines North Master Association read a Proclamation of Thanks and presented a large banner for the South Metro Fire District to keep as a reminder of our gratitude. Thanks to our local flag company, Show Your Colors, for their help with the banner.