As local, state and federal fire-fighting personnel fought the Lake Christine Fire on the Fourth of July, members of the American Red Cross and other volunteers assisted evacuees as best they could, given the circumstances, at Basalt High School.
“We’ve been open as an evacuation center since late yesterday afternoon (Tuesday), and itap for people to come and get information, to use the restrooms, to get water refilled, you know, to get snacks …, ” Red Cross volunteer and on-site shelter manager Rheta Strong said.
About 35 people were at the shelter Wednesday afternoon, most of them outside tending to pets or taking pictures of the fire which was highly visible on the flanks of Basalt Mountain to the north.
By early Thursday morning, a second evacuation center had been established at Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale, as evacuation notices extended to the Missouri Heights and Cattle Creek areas.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Basalt shelter could not accept pets unless they were service animals, which left some evacuees, like Phil Rosenberg scrambling.
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