Volunteer disaster responders with the American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois responded to 18 fires from Monday, October 7 to today across the region including fires in Dolton, Harvard, Blue Island, Waukegan, Dixon, Maywood, Harvey and more with eight of these fires occurring in Chicago.

The Red Cross assisted 85 individuals, including 59 adults and 26 children with temporary housing, food, clothing and comfort kits with toiletry items, information about recovery services and health and mental health services and, depending on the circumstances, financial assistance.

The American Red Cross responds to 3 to 4 home fires every day in Northern Illinois. The Red Cross recommends two easy steps to help protect your home and loved ones from a fire: get a smoke alarm and create a fire escape plan. The Red Cross installs FREE smoke alarms all year-round. To schedule an appointment to get a free installation in your home, visit http://www.getasmokealarm.org. On Saturday, October 26, volunteers with the American Red Cross will be installing free smoke alarms in Machesney Park, Illinois. Make your appointment today! For more Red Cross fire safety and preparedness information visit http://www.redcross.org/prepare.  

Also, on Thursday, October 10, volunteers with the Red Cross helped one person who was displaced after a car drove into their mobile home located in the 3200 block of 9th Street in Rockford. The American Red Cross provided financial assistance, temporary housing and a comfort kit that included toiletry items.

In addition, over 100 people including several international runners took on the 2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon as Team Red Cross on Sunday. American Red Cross volunteers were also stationed along the marathon's route to help with Runner Reunification, connecting family and friends with runners in the event a participant had been transported to a local hospital