Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
TOOELE — Less than 24 hours after a blaze ripped through a Tooele neighborhood late Tuesday in one of the worst disasters the city has ever seen, county officials, emergency leaders, faith groups, local businesses and community volunteers had already rallied in tremendous support.
Tooele County Emergency Management and the Red Cross hosted a meeting Wednesday night at West Elementary School to align those efforts.
Roughly 60 community members attended to learn how to help volunteer through the Red Cross. A dozen representatives from local churches, businesses, the school district, and homeless services also attended to strategize support for immediate and long-term needs of the displaced residents.
The arson fire destroyed 10 Tooele homes and damaged eight others.
"We're really at a turning point right now in this community," said Amber Savage, Red Cross disaster program manager. "We've seen what's happened. It's ripped our heart out and laid in on the street, but now we have an opportunity to pick it back up."
Tooele resident Patty Deakin, who runs the community Facebook page Tooele County 411 followed by more than 16,000 residents, said she's eager to give her group a concrete direction.
"I've got 16,000 people asking: 'What can we do, what can we donate, where can we go, who can we help?" she said. "I'm just so proud of my community and the way we rally. By the time Red Cross got here, we were ready. We already had blankets, pillows, food, water, ice and coolers and hygiene products, toothbrushes and toothpaste."
Savage said the immediate outpouring of community support has been "incredible," noting that many community members had already donated more than enough blankets, food, water, clothing and hygiene products even before the sun had risen Wednesday morning.
"I've deployed to disasters all across the world, and I've never seen what I've seen here in Tooele," she said.
In fact, there has been so many donations, county emergency leaders said they can no longer accept material donations, and instead were asking for monetary donations to the Tooele Fire Relief Fund through Zions Bank.
Savage said since there have been so many food and clothing donations already, they're urging community members to starting thinking about how they can help long-term, whether it's through fundraising for cash donations or organizing volunteer labor efforts for helping the neighborhood rebuild.
"To see all this generosity, we love it, we want to see it, we want to see people keep giving, but the problem is right now the immediate needs are taken care of," she said. "People mostly have a place to go, food to eat and a shirt on their back. Now it's that transition, and we don't know what they need yet."
Taking the lead on that effort is Robin Frederickson, with Tooele County Emergency Management.
She said Thursday the county will host another meeting at its emergency management building, 15 E. 100 South, at 1 p.m. to delve deeper into how organizations can provide volunteers or other donations in the weeks and months to come.
"Just seeing the number of people in this meeting is a great indication that we're headed in the right direction," Frederickson said. "It will just take time."
Savage urged community members to stay engaged, since the months ahead will be even more challenging for the families who will need to rebuild their lives.
"We've seen the flames, we've seen the ashes," she said. "Now as we turn the corner into recovery … we have to move to: What do we do now? How do I help my kids cope? How do I get to work without a car? How do I find a new home?"
Tooele doesn't have a homeless shelter, and while about 10 residents were provided vouchers for hotel rooms Wednesday night, the Red Cross doesn't assist with long-term housing needs, so displaced residents will need help in the months to come to either rebuild or relocate.
More information of how to help can be found at Tooele County Emergency Management's website, tcem.org, or its Facebook page.
