North Texans are ready to help the residents impacted by the weekend wildfires in West Texas and the Panhandle.
Several members of the Chisholm Trail Chapter of the Red Cross were on their way to Amarillo on Monday afternoon. More than 121,000 acres have burned, including at least 70 homes.
A disaster assessment team of six people will provide extra manpower to a chapter stretched thin by the fires.
"The request at this time is for disaster assessment teams and case management," chapter spokesman Albert Gonzalez said. "Now that can change at any moment. We might get a phone call a couple hours from now saying, 'We need vehicles. We need 'x.'' As this grows or shrinks, we respond accordingly."
The Red Cross workers expect to see a lot of devastation, but said they're ready to help.
"It's going to be devastating, but we're going to be there to help as much as we can," Kim Christian said.
Relief workers have not yet been able to get the front lines to assess the damage but are expected to on Tuesday.
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"We're anticipating (Tuesday) morning being able to send our disaster assessment teams in, to see which homes have been completely destroyed and which ones have sustained minor damage," said Christian, who is one of the six going. "I suspect there won't be a lot with minor damage. Usually when these wildfires come through, they wipe out everything."
And because residents had such little time to grab what they needed, Christian expects to be busy getting them assistance.
"We're going to help connect them to the resources they still have and connect them with what we can," she said.
Christian said the fires are a perfect example of why you should always be prepared because you never know when disaster will strike and how much or little time you'll have to get out.
The Red Cross is always looking for donations and volunteers.
