Weed Fire Relief

I am sure almost everyone has heard of the horrific fire in Weed by now. In fact, I would guess that most people have forgotten about it by now. The day after the fire broke out I set up a donation site at American Medical Response ambulance and was AMAZED at the response we got. Within hours donations started coming in.

By the end of the week we had a full trailer full. My heart was happy as I saw all the things our community was willing to give to people who had lost everything. Most of it was clothes but others also brought food, water, snacks and toys. One little boy brought his favorite toy truck to give. It brought tears to my eyes!

 Her is the almost full trailer. I added a pick of the outside so you could see how big it was. When I first put out the call for donations I thought at most I would fill the trunk of my car. I never expected this kind of response.

The day came to take the trip down to Weed and to be honest I was a little nervous. The first reason is that, despite my history as a paramedic, I really hate to see bad things. I think that is what drew me to be a paramedic in that at least I could help somehow. I was preparing myself to see the destruction the fire had wrought.

The other reason I was nervous was that I had heard they did not need donations, especially clothes which is what I had in abundance. I had heard the flood of donations coming in as the "disaster after the disaster". I did not want to add to the chaos. When we reached the donation site we were told they really didn't need clothes but would take the food. Feeling a little defeated that my way of helping out was not helping at all, I volunteered to stay a few hours and help sort donations. They told us of another site that was taking clothe and we drove there. All the donation centers we went to were humbled and thankful that we had come so far to help. Though overwhelmed by the amount of stuff coming in, they were also grateful as well.

Brian and I were only happy to help. My mom came with us as well. There was only one thing left to do. See for ourselves what destruction had done.

We could not go to the residential area that had burned. For safety reasons it was still roped off to all but firefighters and homeowners. However we were able to drive through some of the areas that had burned. It was obvious that the fire had been fast and hot. My husband and I have both been firefighters at one time or another and recognized the signs. The trees were scorched, the soil looked as though it was on the moon and the grasses around the burned areas dry and withered. Several trees stood untouched amid a black forest of coal and ash, a testament to the speed of the fire that didn't have time to seek out every fuel and also the importance of clearing areas.

The town was resilient and people were out and about, already regrouping and supporting each other. One last thing that broke my heart was the loss of the Public Library. An avid reader and granddaughter of a librarian, my summers were spent at reading programs and learning the importance of reading. I hope and pray there will be a way to rebuild and replace much of what was lost there. Each library has things are are irreplaceable.

 

Please don't forget this town. They will need help for some time as they rebuild.