In recent years, Iowans have dealt with deadly tornadoes and historic flooding, but the biggest disaster for the Iowa chapter of the American Red Cross during 2025 has been house fires.
Josh Murray is spokesman for the agency in Iowa and says fires are breaking out somewhere in the state almost daily, sometimes two a day, and it only gets worse during the winter.
“So far in 2025, we’ve responded to just about 600 home fires. That’s affecting more than 2,000 people,” Murray says. “We’re thankful to our volunteers who get out there and help those people, whether it’s finding them some temporary accommodations, giving them some blankets and snacks, something to take care of them, trying to help them as they sit there and sift through and figure out what their next steps are.”…