Volunteers Look To Evacuees For Strength

LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4)- Volunteers working the High Park Fire have signed up for a 24-hour-a-day, 7-days-a-week commitment. But there's a surprising element to their story that keeps them inspired: the people they're actually supposed to be helping.

"Everybody's tired, everybody's working hard but we're holding strong," said American Red Cross spokesman Adam Rae. "There's highs and lows. We're open 24/7."

Volunteers feel it's important not only to provide evacuees with the essentials: food, water and a place to sleep. But they're also greeting them with friendship.

Support for the firefighters is everywhere. Water and even a free meal are available to fire crews in small mountian communities near the High Park Fire.
For the volunteers at the evacuation centers it's the evacuees who are keeping them going.

"The people. You see some really incredible things. Incredible people with incredible strength who are saying, 'We're going to get through this. We're going to stay. We're going to rebuild.' Our volunteers, their hearts are huge and all they want to do is help," said Rae. "That's what keeps the drive going.

"We're holding strong, we're holding strong and we're going to be here through the end."