FIRES

0-13-2017

 

I write this on Friday the 13th.  Yikes.

 

We delivered the ERV to the San Bernardino, CA Red Cross chapter house by about 9:30 this morning. I guess the stars were all lined up as we got really lucky that anyone was even at the chapter house.  Apparently, this is “vacation” season for many folks out here, as it is fall break for most schools. So, many of the volunteer workers at this site, were on vacation. Add to that, those that were not on vacation were deployed to the wild fires out here. When we drove the ERV into the parking lot of the chapter, another vehicle drove up simultaneously, and it was the only “paid” Red Cross worker for the chapter, who is in charge of deployments. She came back to pick up something she forgot on her desk, before going on vacation herself.

 

Once delivered, the ERV was then the last leg of the original assignment from Orlando, FL, and we had completed our mission. In order to stay deployed, we needed to find a new assignment, and the wild fires in the area seemed to be the most logical choice. If I didn’t mention before, I will mention now, that the Red Cross is a rather bureaucratical organization, andsometimes it impedes logic. The chapter manager that we encountered knew the “gig” and got us deployed in relatively short order. Our new assignment will involve the wild fires in and around the Sacramento area.  How long, I won’t know until I get there tomorrow. It will most likely be helping feed/water the victims of the fires, but also the fire fighters themselves. We have been staying in hotels along the way each night, but once to our final destination, we may be staying in the same shelter as the victims and other workers. I’ll know more tomorrow.

 

As Red Cross workers, we are supposed to get a day off each week we work, but in this case, we may not. We will be arriving on a Saturday, but the fires don’t take a break on the weekends, so we feel we should help the current need, and not worry about our time off right now.

 

I’ll post more as I know more…………………………

 

John