Red Cross aids 46 victims of Woodbridge fire

A woman and her toddler who jumped out of an apartment window Friday night to escape a fire are among the 46 Woodbridge residents left homeless and being assisted by Red Cross volun-teers.

The two-alarm fire broke out just after 7 p.m. Friday at Friendship Place Apartments at 14400 Gemstone Drive near Opitz Boulevard.

Fire investigators believe the fire started on the ground floor in an elderly woman's apart-ment and quickly spread to seven other units. In all, 12 units were affected and the residents of those units left homeless.

Neither Gisele Lopez, her 2-year-old son Carlos, who jumped out of the window, nor any of the other residents was injured.

Volunteers and staff from the Prince William Red Cross were called out to the fire about 8:30 p.m. in the midst of that evening's thunderstorm, according to Deborah Campbell, public support director for the local chapter.

"This is the local chapter's third response in less than a week and the tenth re-sponse since May," said Gary Gilham, senior director of Disaster Services and Chapter Operations. "In fact, it's been a wild time for emergency services in the area. This is the second two-alarm fire [Friday], plus a plane crash."

Manassas and Prince William firefighters responded to a town house fire at 8932 Princeton Park Drive in Manassas about 3:15 p.m. Friday.

A small experimental aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff near the Manassas Regional Airport just before 5 p.m. Friday. There were two Herndon men on board, both were taken to the hospi-tal. One remained hospitalized on Saturday.

"In spite of all that, the fire departments have done great," Gilham said.

A service center for the displaced residents of the Friendship Place Apartments fire was set up at a local hotel and the residents were transported there by bus.

Each family was assigned to a Red Cross volunteer to assess their needs. The Red Cross pro-vided shelter, food and clothing, and immediate provisions for those who needed it, according to Campbell.

The Red Cross responders included Roger Blinn, Jan Boehmer, Linda and Randy Cohen, Marty French, Patty and Gary Gilham, Chuck Mudd and Brian Shaw.

Red Cross Disaster Response Teams consist of trained Red Cross volunteers who are prepared to respond immediately -- around the clock, 365 days a year -- to local emergencies when needed. Once on-site, they assess the damage and work with victims to determine the needs of the family, provide friendly reassurance and help them begin recovery.

These immediate needs may include food, clothing, temporary housing, basic items like toiletries and comfort items like blankets, stuff animals and snacks.

If follow-up beyond the services provided at the scene is required, victims are assigned a volun-teer case worker to determine additional disaster caused needs and to assist with referrals to other community agencies or human service organizations to continue the recovery proc-ess.

The chapter has depleted its disaster relief fund due the number of incidents and the large num-ber of clients in needed of assistance after these recent fires, Campbell said.

The Prince William Red Cross asks citizens to make a financial gift to the chapter to help it con-tinue to assist the victims of this fire and other emergencies immediately.

"Our Red Cross assistance is unique, it provides for immediate needs immediately," Gilham said. "No other organization is there on the scene ready to help when people are wondering, 'What happens now? Or what am I going to do?'"

To make a donation to the Prince William Chapter of the Red Cross, visit its Web site at www.pwarc.org or call 703-368-4511.

Staff Writer Aileen Streng can be reached at 703-878-8010.