More than 70 Boardwalk Apartments residents sought help from the Douglas County chapter of the American Red Cross in the hours after Friday morning’s blaze.

The Red Cross provided clothing vouchers – roughly $130 per person – meals and shelter to fire survivors.

“This is going to be a monumental expense,” said Jane Blocher, the local Red Cross director. “We have never provided assistance at this level before – even the tornado of 2003 was small compared to what the needs of these people will be.”

The Red Cross did not set up a relief fund specifically for victims of the fire, she said, but cash donations would replenish funds depleted by Friday’s fire relief efforts – and local donations would stay with the local chapter.

“It’s the same with any disaster – just a contribution to the disaster relief fund,” she said.

What the Red Cross doesn’t need, she said, is the clothing offered by dozens of callers to its Lawrence offices on Friday. Such donations, she said, should be directed to Penn House or Goodwill.

The shelter, she said, wasn’t needed for long.

“So many of these people have scattered, and I assume are staying with family or friends, so we have met with hardly any people who say they need a place to stay tonight,” she said.

Interested donors can reach the Red Cross at 843-3550.

Other local assistance efforts:

¢ The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority was providing an online clearinghouse of local apartment vacancies for fire victims seeking new housing. The clearinghouse can be found at www.ldcha.org.

¢ Kansas University officials said 32 students lived at Boardwalk Apartments. The university said it would assist students affected by the fire; it encouraged those students to call the dean of students at 864-4060.