Due to recent fires, the American Red Cross' new Disaster Action Team (DAT) captain has been busy.

The American Red Cross DAT team of DeWitt County helped supply food and water for the firefighters who responded to the fires last month. New captain, Bob Reed explains his team was able to supply sandwiches from a local grocery store and water to the firefighters. He adds the Decatur office was able to respond as well and brought more support and supplies with them.

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In DeWitt County, there are 14 active members of the team. Reed says the teams main goal is to help first responders and give moral support to those who lost shelter. One member has the team's phone at all times, and at least two members of the team respond to each disaster.

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Reed believes it makes being captain of DeWitt County's team is very fulfilling and he has a good team of volunteers. He says in many cases when helping someone, they are just looking for someone to talk to.

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Reed recently was nominated as DeWitt County's Volunteer of the Year through the American Red Cross. Reed feels it's easy to be a captain of the Disaster Action Team because of the great people he works with.