Jimmy Gray left home for work at about 2:05 p.m. At 2:13 p.m., he received the phone call that his house was on fire.

Jimmy’s 14-year-old stepson, Byron, had heated oil on the stove to make French fries. The grease ignited and the fire spread quickly. Byron, unable to get to his grandmother, had to leave the house. The family’s dog made it to the grandmother’s room and scratched on the door. Smoke billowed in.

“She’s terrified of dogs. But she said she got up, grabbed the dog by the collar and crawled on the floor under the fire,” Jimmy explains. “She made it out of the house.”

With fire damage in the kitchen, hallway and bathroom, the family had nowhere to go. Red Cross Disaster Action Team (DAT) volunteers arrived to help, providing the family with a place to stay, food, clothing and bedding – simple things that kept the family together. Days later, the repairs were not complete, and the family had to separate: Jimmy and his wife stayed with a relative, and their five children with an aunt.

“We pick them up every day and spend time with them after we get off work,” Jimmy says. “Then we drop them back off, and that’s the hardest part. The younger ones don’t understand that we have just a few more days, and then we will all be back together again.”

Jimmy’s story proves a reminder of how quickly a fire can spread and uproot a family. The Red Cross encourages you to keep your family safe by installing smoke alarms on every level of your home and in each sleeping area. For more fire safety tips, visit our Get Prepared page.

Learn more about fire safety at the State Fair from August 6-16. Red Cross volunteers will be available to answer your questions, as well as pass out fire safety coloring books and information on how you, your friends and family can be Red Cross Ready.

The American Red Cross in Southeastern Wisconsin relies on donations of time and money so they can provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies in Dodge, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth and Waukesha counties. To donate your time, please visit our Volunteer page. Financial donations can be made online through our secure contribution site.