Local woman helps during California wildfires

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Date published: 12/11/2007

BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE

Mention the California wildfires and most people will pull up images from TV: raging fires, destroyed homes and desperate people.

Stafford County resident Zena Hemp's thoughts go straight to an elderly man named Gerald.

"He had been in a war He'd had a really, really rough life, and he didn't trust people much--you could tell by the way he was acting," said Hemp, who serves on the Rappahannock Area Red Cross' disaster response team.

She went to California to help in late October and met Gerald, a man who had been homeless before.

When he got his home, he shut himself in and didn't leave for seven years. A neighbor delivered groceries for him, and Gerald remained alone with his dog.

When the fires came through, he still didn't leave his property, even though his house and barns burned around him. He stayed in a dilapidated mobile home that somehow escaped the fire.

His dog was not so lucky and had burnt paws and red eyes.

When Hemp visited Gerald to deliver goods, he couldn't believe total strangers would "just come and give him stuff for free," she said. She talked him into coming to the Red Cross' shelter to receive medical care for his golden retriever.

Gerald came to the shelter and stayed for hours, chatting with volunteers.

Hemp spent weeks in California, handing out cases of water, animal food, coolers, diapers, ice, rakes and more to the victims of the fires.

She also visited an Indian reservation, where the people lived in poverty before the fire. And she went to other California homes burned to the ground.

It amazed her to see that one house would be destroyed and the house next to it would be fine. She later learned that even where the fires didn't rage, ash the size of milk cartons would ignite the houses. The heavy winds blew the smoldering ash everywhere, and any house was in danger of randomly catching fire.

It was hard for Hemp to be away from her husband and two dogs, but she felt strongly about helping. She'd been part of the disaster response team dispatched to Katrina, too.

During the wildfires' reign in Southern California, the Red Cross: provided more than 24,000 overnight stays in shelters provided more than 114,000 meals sent about 6,000 workers from all 50 states gave out about 5,000 clean-up kits sent mental health workers to help people deal with stress and depression. --Carolina Camargo, spokeswoman, Rappahannock Area Red Cross The Rappahannock Area Red Cross needs volunteers for its disaster relief team. People can choose how much time to spend volunteering, said spokesperson Carolina Camargo. Anyone interested should call Kristen Taylor at the local Red Cross office, 540/735-0500.

Date published: 12/11/2007