More Volunteers Deploy to Assist With California Wildfires

In response to the deadly California Wildfires, the American Red Cross remains on the ground in northern California, providing food, shelter and comfort to people who have been traumatically impacted by devastating fires.

The Rim Fire in the Stanislaus National Forest near in California began on Aug. 17, 2013 and is under investigation. Courtesy photo.

With two more O‘ahu volunteers leaving this weekend, a total of 10 local Red Cross volunteers will have been deployed to California to assist with this response (four from the Big Island, two from Maui and four from O‘ahu). This includes four nurses to provide health services to those in need. Two volunteers have assisted with mental health services, one is helping with transportation and two others assigned to help with sheltering.

As of Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, more than 1,000 people remain displaced and are sheltering at eight Red Cross and independent community shelters in northern California.

More than 2,000 Red Cross disaster workers have answered the call to help since the fires began and nearly 500 volunteers are still on the ground supporting people affected by the wildfires in California. Working with partners, the Red Cross has provided more than 107,700 meals and snacks in just over three weeks. Volunteer mental health, health services and spiritual care professionals have provided nearly 34,000 contacts to provide support and care to evacuees.

How you can help

Entire communities and families have been left reeling from deadly wildfires. Help people affected by disasters like the California wildfires. Go online or call (800) RED CROSS or (808) 739-8109. Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.

Finding loved ones

People continue to search for missing loved ones and Red Cross reunification services are helping reconnect them as quickly as possible. These services include helping people communicate through the Red Cross Safe and Well website, as well as helping with urgent requests involving unaccompanied minors and separated children, reestablishing contact with family members who have been separated within the disaster area and working with partners to resolve reunification-related inquiries. There have been just over 10,000 Safe and Well registrations for the wildfires, as many as 88,200 searches, and more than 2,400 matches through Safe and Well.