When Disaster Strikes

A Scouting for Food pick-up to be remembered

Unless you’ve been on a total social media blackout for the last three weeks, you have at least heard about the wildfires in California. The good news is that the biggest one—the Camp Fire—is now 100% contained. The bad news…well, it’s bad, people. This fire now holds the dubious honor of being the single most destructive wildfire in California history. Worse than the Tubbs Fire in Napa County last year. So many homes and businesses were destroyed in the town of Paradise alone that it’s easier to take pictures of what’s still standing than what’s not.

How big was the Camp Fire ultimately? At the time I wrote this blog, 153,336 acres (almost 240 square miles) have burned. Eight-five confirmed dead, with hundreds still missing. It gobbled up the towns of Paradise, Magalia, Concow, Park Hill, and several others. For a time, it even threatened the City of Chico.

How fast is fast? "This fire was outrunning us before we realized we were in a race." -Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. The Bay Area is over one hundred sixty miles away from Paradise. It took barely an hour and a half for the high winds to blow the smoke into our area, and it stayed with us for two and half weeks until the rain finally came the day before Thanksgiving.

But, with human tragedy comes human compassion. In the mad rush to evacuate, people still stopped and grabbed other stranded motorists and animals--even though they were all surrounded by walls of flame with helicopters dumping water directly on them--and driving them to safety. The stories are beautiful and endless, and reaffirmed my faith in my fellow humans.

During a FB Live, my dear friend and fellow author R.L.Merrill brought me to tears when she said, “I can’t even say how much it bothers me think about all the kids who aren’t going to have homes to have holidays in this year…We’re debating here whether or not to keep our schools open, they don’t have a school. We’re staying inside our houses to avoid the smoke; they don’t have houses.” (Less than an hour after she said this, the phone calls went out announcing schools in our county would be closed the next day.)

Suddenly having to wear masks outside doesn't seem like such a hardship, does it? But, this is where human compassion steps up. Thoughts, prayers, words of encouragement are gladly accepted! Always will be, imo. However, if you’re looking for other ways to give, here’s some places seeking help:

AirBnB

Do you have a Northern California home, apartment, or condo listed with AirBnB? Contact AirBnB to open your property to displaced families or disaster relief workers deployed to the area. (Nov. 8 – Dec 14, 2018.)

Donations

Please note that just about every organization has been flooded with clothing and household items, and they’re begging people to stop dropping off because there’s nowhere to store these items, especially now that the rains have started. Instead, monetary donations can be made to:

Butte County Office of Education – Donors can specify where and what their monetary donation can be spent on (text books, musical instruments, sports gear, school supplies, etc.)

Northern Valley Animal Disaster Group – Need volunteers, temporary foster homes, monetary donations.

North Valley Community Foundation

Butte Humane Society – Amazon Wishlist

TheAmerican Red Cross

If you know any other legitimate organizations giving aid to the victims of this fire, please feel free to mention them in the comments.

As always, research any charities you might donate to!

Another way to help:

From now through Christmas, R.L Merrill will donate 100% of the proceeds from her book Father F’in’Christmas to help the recovery efforts for the Camp Fire. This book was written on a dare, and is a perfect choice for the cause! Here’s the blurb:

When deceased firefighter Tommy Quintana wakes up in a gymnasium and is told he suffers from Death Denial Syndrome, he knows the one thing he must do in order to move on: mind his wife, Kimberly. Assigned to work with Intervention Specialist Louis Sheffield, he soon learns that he has much more to make up for than he thought as his widow is literally dying of a broken heart. With the help of a 1980s-era punk rocker, a gargoyle, and an alley cat, Tommy will attempt a friggin' Christmas miracle to save her.

Sunrise from my house on Nov. 9th, 160 miles from the fire.

The arrival of the rains brings its own challenges, specifically landslides. With the vegetation gone, the blackened hillsides in the fire zone have already made the search for human remains a difficult and dangerous job. Please keep our first-responders and volunteers in your prayers.

Thanks!

~Lea Kirk

By the way, Sheriff Honea seems to have achieved Chuck Norris level notoriety in this collection of memes. My favorite is “Death once had a near Honea experience.”

~*~*~*~*~

USA Today Bestselling Author Lea Kirk loves to transport her readers to other worlds with her science fiction romance Prophecy series. She’s an avid Trekkie, Gryffindor, and wannabe space explorer. She’s made one foray into paranormal romance with her Magic, NM vampire novella, Made for Her, and hopes to write more stories in this world.

When she’s not busy writing, she’s hanging out with her wonderful hubby of twenty-eight years, their five kids (aka, the nerd herd), and a spoiled Dobie mix pup.

For more on Lea's books (past, present, and future), check out her:

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