The Day the House Exploded

There I was, the house exploding behind me, as I held the family dog to comfort it as it cowered in the blasts. What hell was I doing? The scene is New Orleans, 2005. Yep, after Katrina hit. I was 22, and itching for excitement… so when the call went out for volunteers throughout the US, I signed up with the Red Cross. There was a week's worth of first responder training, and then I flew to…