Natalie Clayton, 21, awoke just before 3 a.m. Dec. 9 to a banging on her front door and the realization that her house was on fire.

The Kansas University student from Omaha ran out the front of 1129 Vt., barefoot, in the dress and tights she wore the night before.

In shock, she huddled in the cold Sunday morning and watched as flames destroyed the three-story home she and six roommates rented.

“It was kind of a blur,” Clayton said. “To me it didn’t look that bad when I saw it from the outside. When they took us to the station just to get us away from the fire, the fire chief said, ‘I don’t think anything will be left of your house.’ It didn’t seem as bad when as I saw it and then the roof collapsed.”

To Clayton’s surprise, help and support was immediate from the Douglas County chapter of the American Red Cross and Kansas University. All seven roommates were KU students preparing for finals that week.

Whenever disaster strikes in the county, about 30 Red Cross volunteers, who range from 18 to 60 years old, are on call to help. In recent months, volunteers have responded to several house fires, a common occurrence during winter.

Single-family house fires are the No. 1 disaster in Douglas County, according to Jane Blocher, local Red Cross executive director.

In a fire, people can suffer substantial losses and may not be able to return home for months – if at all. Renters insurance is also a rarity in Lawrence, fire officials said, which can make the road to recovery long and costly.

“There are lots and lots of people we have assisted that if it wasn’t for the Red Cross, they would have been homeless,” Blocher said. “There’s a lot of need in Douglas County and a lot of people who don’t have the financial means to recover.”

The most recent house fire was Christmas night on the 1600 block of Oxford Road in central Lawrence. The residents escaped unharmed and didn’t require help from the Red Cross. But for the residents of the Vermont Street fire and another house fire at 2609 Pickwick Place, their support was vital, especially the emotional support that volunteers can provide on scene.

The Red Cross offers short-term emergency assistance such as a three-night stay at the Holiday Inn Holidome, a clothing and food allowance and, sometimes, help with medication and eye glasses. They also can work with other agencies that can help.

“It gives them time to get plan B going,” Blocher said. “Time to regroup and decide what their next living arrangement is going to be.”

For the students who lost almost everything in the Vermont Street fire, KU’s Office of Student Success also provided academic help so the students could finish the semester.

In fact, Ann Eversole, KU assistant vice provost, met the students at the police station the night of the blaze.

“It was, considering the hour, it was absolutely short of a miracle that nobody got injured,” she said.

The seven displaced women were offered rooms at KU residence halls and textbooks, and the KU athletic department also gave them coats and backpacks. The Red Cross gave each a clothing allowance of about $130. Clayton said she stayed with friends and bought necessities at Target. She said friends offered their used clothes as well. Eversole was also responsible for contacting students’ professors to inform them of the incident.

“I think it’s absolutely essential for them to continue as students,” Eversole said. “The reason they are here is to complete their university education and when these terrible emergencies happen, we ensure book replacement, that kind of thing. It’s critical.”

Both Blocher and fire officials suggest that students and other renters insure their belongings.

“Disaster assistance gives them clothes on their back, shoes on their feet,” Blocher said. “It helps them get on the road to recovery, but it doesn’t take the place of renters insurance or home owners insurance.”

Clayton said neither she nor her roommates had renters insurance. Because they will be unable to return to their home, she said their landlord had another seven-bedroom house available for them.

Rich Barr, a division chief with the Lawrence Douglas County Fire Medical department, said that at 98 percent of the structure fires he responds to, residents say they don’t have renters insurance.

“Seventy-five dollars a year is a big deal,” he said about insurance. “When they lose it all, they lose it all.”