ORLANDO, Fla. — Red Cross disaster relief teams from across the nation are mobilizing to support California, and Central Florida is no exception.
What You Need To Know
- Six Red Cross team members from Orlando were sent to help victims of the California wildfires
- Their primary goal is to provide meals, mental health support and other basic needs to fire victims
- Local Red Cross officials say they do not know how long they will be needed in California, and there is a good chance more workers will be sent in the near future
- They say people should not donate clothes and other items but money donations are suggested at the agency will buy food in bulk in California
Orlando’s Red Cross has sent a group of workers to help those residents now in shelters due to the wildfires.
Their primary goal is to provide meals, mental health support and other basic needs to fire victims.
Executive Director Janice Moran has been leading the local efforts.
“Six people that have been sent out there already," she said. "And they will be working in shelters as well as in logistics."
The team will work out of a large van that can best be described as a mobile meals on wheels.
“Primarily, we use it for feeding. Mass feeding," Moran said. "Whether it’s driving around in the neighborhood and feed out through the window. Or it may be at a shelter or a fixed site."
Many wonder what’s caused the devastating fires.
According to California’s Department of Forestry, 15 of the 20 most destructive wildfires in the state’s history have occurred in the past decade.
Scientific Fire Analysis investigator John Lentini has spent his life investigating fires and says there will be a long process in determining the cause.
“The way that wildfires are figured out is by narrowing down where it started,” said Lentini.
He said it is a process that is often done using satellite photos. The majority of fires in California are caused by people, whether purposeful or by carelessness.
Lentini, who has investigated thousands of fires, said everyone needs to stop the blame game at this time.
“In terms of people picking on politicians because hydrants ran dry, those people just need to be quiet," he said. "These systems are not designed for wildfires. They never have been. Pacific Palisades, you could probably catch 10 houses at once, no problem. You catch a thousand houses on fire at once, nothing is going to keep up with it. You can’t afford to design a system that can keep up with that."
The Orlando Red Cross officials say people should not donate clothes and other items to the local office because the agency has no way to send them to California.
Monetary donations are suggested as the organization buys food and supplies in bulk in California.
Donations can be made to the American Red Cross.