Wade and Carol Angelloz's home on the banks of the Amite River was destroyed by a massive fire. Photo courtesy of Shane Hebert and WAFB News.
July 3, 2025
By: Stephen Crawford, volunteer writer
For ten years, Wade and Carol Angelloz called their Port Vincent house home. They picked the tranquil spot near the Amite River as a place to slow down and take life a bit easier. It hasn’t entirely been easy, though. The historic flooding in 2016 was a challenge they withstood amid widespread devastation in the area. But after a decade living in their own paradise, it was gone in an instant following a house fire that resulted in a total loss.
Carol was headed home when she got the call. A neighbor had already called 911. Another called in tears, telling her the house was gone. She continued homeward in a daze, and when she saw the rising black smoke, she knew it was real.
“We were ready to just take life a little bit easier,” Carol said, reflecting on their decision to move to Port Vincent. “It was just a peaceful and relaxing place to be.”
“Heaven-sent,” is how Wade describes their place by the river. Despite having made several trips back since the fire, he said they’re still struggling to make sense of something that still “almost doesn’t seem real.”
The night of the fire, they waited nearby while responders from multiple fire departments cleared the scene. Initially, when asked if they wanted help from the American Red Cross, they hesitated.
"We're very humble people," Carol said. After some encouragement, the Angellozes agreed. Soon, a Red Cross Disaster Action Team volunteer was on site and ready to help.
"He just walked up and said, 'I saw it on the news. Y'all need everything. How can we help?'" Wade said, before the DAT volunteer provided them with personal care essentials and a financial assistance card for immediate relief. A few days later, another Red Cross volunteer followed up, asking about things like lost glasses, prescriptions and even pet medications, all of which needed replacing but hadn’t yet been considered during the days following the fire.
“We didn't even think to ask for those things,” Carol said. “She helped guide us to what we didn’t realize we needed.”
The following week, they got yet another follow-up call from the Red Cross to make sure they had what they needed.
“She was making sure we had what we needed in every way,” Carol said. “She just kept asking, ‘Did you lose this? Did you get that?’” The care and concern, she added, was a priceless glimmer of hope.
“You can lose everything, but you can’t lose hope,” she said.
Carol said the experience swiftly shifted their perspective on the Red Cross and the impact of volunteering in disaster response. Despite being in the early stages of recovery, they've already begun thinking about how to help others facing similar tragedies.
“Now we’re cheerleaders,” she said. “We’ll pass it forward and educate people.”
Wade, now semi-retired, said the experience stirred something in him.
“Meeting that man, seeing what he was doing as a volunteer kind of inspired me,” he said. “Once we get settled, it may motivate me to do the same thing because deep down that’s who I am.”
The Red Cross response was swift, largely due to the essential support from volunteers and contributors who fund initiatives like Sound the Alarm, which installs free smoke alarms in high-risk communities. That same support ensures Disaster Action Teams are fully equipped to provide critical relief when it’s needed most.
