Red Cross utilizes Blair for emergency relief

After a fire in an apartment building on Carroll Ave in Takoma Park displaced an estimated sixty people, the Red Cross set up temporary housing in Blair's gymnasium. Among those dislocated by the fire were several Blair students.

According to the Head of the Health and PE Department, Cynthia Changuris, other students who took residence at Blair for the night included a student from Eastern Middle School, a student from Highland View Elementary School, and two students from Oakview Elementary School.

Changuris estimated that thirty people used Blair for rest and relief until eleven this morning.

Principal Phillip Gainous informed Changuris at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4 that Blair was being used as temporary housing for those dislocated by the fire. The people left at the beginning of fifth period, when buses arrived to take them to a location secured by the Red Cross.

According to Changuris, Red Cross "put cots in the dance room and used the locker room for necessities." Breakfast was also provided for the group.

Red Cross and other government organizations identify Blair as an evacuation site and Blair has been used in past emergencies as "temporary relief," according to Changuris.