Fire at United Way
It is so great to have good friends! At 3:00 PM on Friday, March 7, fire visited the grand old building located at 220 and 240 Cypress . The staffs at United Way of Abilene, Cancer Services Network, and the Center for Contemporary Arts were wrapping up another busy week when the buildings filled with smoke and alarms began to sound. The fire trucks were arriving before we were all out of the building. What an amazing response! I want to take this opportunity to thank publicly those who were "first on the scene" to minimize the loss of property and those who followed as soon as it was safe to help get things back to normal.
Chief Ken Dozier and Lt Greg Goettsch, Public Information Office r accompanied the following units from Shift A, Ladder 5, Ladder 1, Engines 1, 4, 5, and Fire Inspector Ed Harris. Their efficient team work was amazing. In spite of all they had to do, they were kind and responsive to anxious staff members and neighbors. Lt. Goettsch was very willing to provide information and respond to our concerns. City of Abilene Building Inspector , Van Watson, came after work hours to inspect so that people could enter and recovery could begin.
The clean-up and recovery began immediately, and the A-Town Hi-Tech Restoration crews were hard at work before the smoke had settled. Gary Glen, Ronny Crumpler, Marsha Rodgers, and their crews are still working 7 days later to get things back to normal. They have done an outstanding job!
AEP crews came out to disconnect the power, but even more special was their coming back on Saturday afternoon to re-connect everything. Thanks to you Greg Blair, Craig McCarthy, and all the crews for making that happen.
Before close of business on that Friday, Tom O'Neil and Terry Young at First Financial Bank were looking for office space in case we had to move out completely. Fortunately, that has not been required as yet, but thanks for being ready to help us out.
We do have the best landlords and property managers! Mike Wheeler, Don Kinnard, and DodgeCo were here with the fire trucks and are still working to get things back in shape.
Many thanks to the Abilene Reporter-News, KTAB-TV, KRBC-TV, and the many friends who have told our story and been so supportive. Our staff who work at 211-Texas A Call for Help Community Resource Center have been most adaptive in sharing office space by taking in Cancer Services Network staff.
Thank you, Abilene! Never underestimate the power of friendships!
Dixie Bassett
President/CEO United Way of Abilene
