October 8-14 is Fire Prevention Week, and the American Red Cross urges all individuals and families to be prepared by forming a fire escape plan and discussing fire safety.

There are many fire safety tips on the Augusta Red Cross website at www.arcaug.org and the public is encouraged to visit the site and learn more about fire prevention.

The Augusta Chapter responds to home fires all year, in fact we responded to 186 home fires last year. The Red Cross is able to respond to these home fires because of our cadre of volunteers that are trained to take action when a disaster occurs. One such group of disaster volunteers are Disaster Action Team members, or DAT members. DAT members are each "on-call" for one week a month and will drive to the scene of a home fire to discuss what assistance is needed for the indi- vidual or family affected by the fire. For more information on fire preparedness and volunteering, please

visit www.arcaug.org, or contact Amanda Bennett at 706-724-8481 or abennett@arcaug.org.