The Steam Team

In recent weeks I was privileged to be part of a group of people who volunteered to do cleanup after the wildfires that destroyed so many homes just south of Austin, Texas. The paradox was that one felt great heartache at seeing so much devastation while at the same time feeling gratification for the opportunity to help people in need.

One of the surprising things, to me at least, was that there were homes spared destruction, despite being in the middle of the fire zone. We worked at one home that had water and smoke damage, but that had not burned while the neighbors on either side had had their homes burned to the ground. And I can tell no rhyme or reason why one burned and the other did not.

The people we helped were very grateful for the assistance they received, in part at least because the water & fire damage restoration Austin services and county agencies were inundated with requests that had backlogged. It seems things are getting back to normal, but it is a time I will never forget.