Red Cross sends local help south

EVERETT — When Corinne Lee’s phone rang early Tuesday morning she knew it meant it would be her last night at home for a while.

With the call, Lee, a Snohomish County Red Cross volunteer, was deployed to San Diego for as long as three weeks to help provide relief for the more than 560,000 people who have been forced to flee Southern California’s wildfires late Tuesday evening.

As of Tuesday night, Lee and four other Snohomish County Red Cross volunteers expected to be on an airplane headed south. Six more volunteers are expected to leave today.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” said Lee, 47, of Bothell. “It is tough shifting everything … your dog, your work. I want to do this. It’s important to give back.”

After Hurricane Katrina, Lee was sent to Alabama and Mississippi to help with the relief efforts there. This is the first time she’s been sent into a disaster that was still unfolding.

At least one death has been blamed on the fires that have injured dozens and destroyed more than 1,800 homes, officials said. The infernos, burning in six counties, showed no signs Tuesday of slowing.

“I’ve not been in this situation,” Lee said. “This is new to me. You have to be flexible, flexibility is a big key. Our motto is, ‘Flex and roll.’ “

More than 2,000 Red Cross volunteers were being mobilized from around the country Tuesday to help with the relief efforts, Snohomish County Red Cross disaster services director Coni Conner said.

On Monday, two Snoho­mish County volunteers drove an emergency response vehicle to Southern California, she said.

More volunteers from Snohomish County may be sent to help with the fires if necessary, officials said.

Instead of donating food or clothes, which can be costly to ship into a disaster area, the best way for people to help is to donate money to the Red Cross, Conner said.

People also can train to become disaster volunteers, ready at a moment’s notice, to drop everything and rush to provide aid, she said.

Leslie Winkler, 61, is one of those trained volunteers. She said she will be returning to Southern California, where in 2003 she volunteered after fires burned out of control that year.

“It was pretty identical to this one,” Winkler said.

She and the other volunteers likely will feed and provide comfort for evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium, the football arena in San Diego that has been transformed into an emergency shelter.

“You do whatever you can to make someone’s stay away from their home a bit more comfortable,” Winkler said. “You drop everything and go. People like knowing that.”

You can help

Help support the Red Cross provide emergency relief to the 560,000 people displaced from their homes as a result of the Southern California wildfires. Go online to www.redcross.org or call 800-HELP-NOW.

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