By Suzanne Lawler, Communications Manager

"Harley came in and said, 'I see smoke.' I got in my wheelchair, and black smoke and flames were in the living room," Summer Clance recalled about a day in August.

Clance had become an amputee six months earlier and was still adapting to life in a wheelchair. Now, with a fire spreading through her Twiggs County home, she focused on getting her children to safety.

"We had built a temporary wheelchair ramp to get in and out, but the flames were in that room, so I couldn't go that way," she said.

Clance and her husband John have nine children. Two were home that day: 3-year-old Whitley and 6-year-old Harley.

Because the family had talked about what to do in an emergency, the children knew how to respond. Every second mattered.

"I told Whitley, 'I need you to run straight out of the front door and get away from the house,'" she said. "I told Harley, 'I'm going to give you mama's phone, and I need you to talk to 911 and go outside with Whitley.'"

With the children safely outside, Clance faced her own life-threatening situation.

"I started paying attention to where the flames were because they were starting to come toward where I was," she said. "I crawled out the front door.”

Whitley and Harley watched from a nearby fence.

"They kept crying and saying, 'Mama, come on.'"

Clance still wasn't safe. The family’s two-story home, built by her grandfather and uncle in 1992, stood at the top of a set of steps leading from the front porch. With flames behind her, she knew she had to keep moving.

"We practice these things in physical therapy called pushups, and you push up and push down, and that's how I got down each one," she said.

Clance's brother-in-law, a firefighter, rushed over to help.

"He tried to help me stand up, but it was just too much, so I rolled through the yard because I was like, 'I just can't do anything else,'" she said with a smile.

The fire consumed nearly everything inside the home. Three fire departments responded and smoke billowed for miles.

"My sister called. She works in Macon and could see the smoke from Interstate 16,” Clance said.

As family members and friends gathered at the scene, an American Red Cross Disaster Action Team volunteer arrived to help address the family's immediate needs.

"They asked me a bunch of questions and gave me nine bags of toiletries," John Clance, Summer’s husband, recalled.

"I was surprised. I didn't think someone was coming immediately that day," Summer Clance added.

The Red Cross provided comfort items and immediate financial assistance to help the family begin recovering from the disaster.

"But the toiletry kits were super helpful," Summer Clance said. "Just even the Kleenex. I mean, I had a kid that needed a Kleenex, we didn't go by CVS and pick up anything because that's not the first thing on your mind."

The financial assistance ensured the family had a safe place to spend the night.

"We had family members that we could stay with, but when you're like, 'Can we put nine people in your house?'" Summer Clance said. "Plus, you want your own space to decompress. You don't want to be sleeping on somebody's couch and trying to deal with all the stuff in your head."

The Red Cross remains alongside families beyond the initial visit. It responds to nearly 65,000 disasters a year, most are home fires. But families aren't statistics. They are the reason the Red Cross carries out its mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies.

The next day, the Clances received a call from Mary Hunt, a Red Cross caseworker and registered nurse who began helping them replace critical items destroyed in the fire, including medications.

"I have to take certain medications, and those were all gone," Summer Clance recalled. "She talked to the doctor because I was between refills on a lot of it and I thought that was pretty awesome."

Home Fire Campaign Saves Lives

Since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign, in partnership with community organizations, has saved at least 2,682 lives, including 255 in Georgia, by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans and installing free smoke alarms in high-risk communities nationwide. To learn more or get involved, visit redcross.org/homefires.

How to Help

You can help people affected by disasters and other crises by supporting American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Donations enable the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters large and small.

To donate, visit redcross.org/donate, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

About the American Red Cross

The American Red Cross provides shelter, food and comfort to disaster victims; supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the public to fulfill its mission. For more information, visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow the Red Cross on social media.