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‘We have to be ready’: California wildfires highlight ongoing need for more Red Cross volunteers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As fire crews continue their efforts to battle the California wildfires, officials with the Northeast Florida chapter of the American Red Cross say the disaster is shining a light on the ongoing need for volunteers.

Regional CEO, Christian Smith, said the increase in disasters across the United States indicates a need that will continue to grow in coming years.

RELATED: Can ocean water be used to battle wildfires? Here’s what we know

“It’s not just that we’re having more and more frequent disasters, it’s the magnitude of the disasters,” Smith said. “It also means that Red Cross has to have more volunteers, and we have to be ready at a moment’s notice because every time we turn around, there’s another disaster coming right behind it.”

Smith cited the back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton as examples, among other flooding and tornado events. She said four volunteers from North Florida have deployed to California to assist in the wildfires, one of whom is from Jacksonville.

She added that those individuals have gone through the American Red Cross program and have been properly trained to respond. She said though some may feel compelled to volunteer in the wake of the wildfires, she stresses the importance of the training aspect.

“Right now, we wouldn’t be able to send anybody that’s not trained and hasn’t been through our program,” Smith said. “The beauty of the Red Cross is when something happens, we can send people from all over the country, but we always need them to be trained in whatever expertise they’re going to go to.”

As for the training itself, Smith said it can depend on what type of volunteering you’re looking to do.

“You may pick sheltering as a way, a service associate,” Smith said. “You might do about 20- or 30-hours' worth of training. That’s a lot of training, there’s an in-person component, an online component. Every discipline is going to have different training components.”

Smith said the best thing a person can do is go to the America Red Cross website, look at the different positions, and see what sparks their interest.

“Some people like to feed people, some people like to drive the emergency response vehicle and pass out food and go into those impacted neighborhoods,” Smith said. “Other people have no interest being in communities where there’s been lots of downed powerlines and safety issues.”

Smith also stresses that in addition to large-scale disasters, the Red Cross also responds and assists local families as they navigate personal events.

“We’ve had 14 families that lost their homes in the last 3 days,” Smith said. “We had 23 individuals that lost their homes on Friday night in a multi-family apartment fire. They’re the ones giving those financial resources. They’re the ones that are going to make the difference between that family having a safe place that night or going into homelessness.”

This Red Cross is also dedicated to prevention. This Saturday, Jan. 18, the agency is inviting the community to participate in a home fire safety and smoke alarm installation event at Emanuel Missionary Baptist Church at 10:45 a.m.

The address is 2407 Susan Badger Circle.


About the Author
Ashley Harding headshot

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She anchors News4Jax at 5:30 and 6:30 and covers Jacksonville city hall.