At 6 this morning my parents, Ted and Donna Storke, who live in Oceanside (a few blocks from Camp Pendleton), received a call from the Villa Monte Vista Care Center where my grandma, Mary Storke, lives. They were notified that the hundreds of residents who live there were going to be evacuated because the fires had rapidly advanced overnight and were entering Poway.

My parents quickly went to go get my Gram. The closer they got to Poway, the thick cloud of smoke turned the sky as dark as pitch black night. When they arrived, there was a fleet of school buses waiting to evacuate the center’s residents whose families were unable to get there.

My parents said the center’s staff was amazing! They were calm and totally organized and efficient. They had my Gram (and all residents) packed up and ready to be moved at a moment’s notice.

They had my Gram’s meds set up and organized for five days of doses, prescriptions written up in case the evacuation lasted longer, medical and treatment schedules written up like my Gram’s dialysis schedule, and clothing and other personal belongings packed.

So my parents were able to quickly get my Gram and leave. The air was horrible, difficult to breathe and burning eyes, so they put a blanket over my Gram’s face on the way to the car.

The drive roundtrip from Oceanside to Poway usually takes them an hour and a half; today it took four hours! Knowing how quickly the fire is spreading, driving into and out of thick black smoke, seeing embers flying and fire jumping roads and freeways, and seeing how far out the smoke extended over the ocean was scary. They are happy to be back in Oceanside and pray the fires don’t reach them.

I just wanted to share our story about the awesome staff of the Villa Monte Vista. We are so thankful for and impressed with how amazingly great the staff was in helping to evacuate ALL of the center residents. Thank you doesn’t seem enough to express just how much we appreciate them and all they did. They risked their safety and lives just going to work and staying there until every last one of the hundreds of residents were safely evacuated. They are heroes! Angels with hidden wings!

J.R. Brooks of St. Louis, Missouri
My 70-year-old parents drove a Red Cross emergency response vehicle into San Diego today. Most of us don’t realize it, but our country relies on the efforts of a cadre of unpaid volunteers, often retirees. These people leave their comfortable lives at a moment’s notice.

They travel INTO the areas everyone else is leaving. They often work under Spartan or stressful conditions. They feed and shelter people, distribute supplies and clothing to keep lives stable, and set up emergency communication centers. They are on the job soon after every major fire, hurricane, earthquake, terrorist attack, flood or tornado. THANK YOU to Papa and Grami for all your hard work!

Lisa Scott-Wilkie of Temecula, California
Thank you to everyone able to be of service to our San Diego community, including our tireless American Sign Language interpreters being of service to our huge deaf community in the San Diego area! Peace to all.

Dennie Dillard of Rowland Heights, California
I would like to help by offering to keep family pets at my house for anyone who can’t keep their pets with them … Also, I would be happy to feed anyone who is in need of a meal. DDRowHts@aol.com

Heather Short of San Diego, California
Thank you to local news media and San Diego police department for getting the word out quickly about evacuations.

Kirsten Dudley of West Palm Beach, Florida
I am the owner of kaydeecouture.com. If any of the fire victims … need assistance replacing their clothing, please offer my personal shopping services for free, and all clothing will be given at cost and no profit to me. I am not just offering to help replace luxury clothing, I am also offering to help those in need of clothing for general wear, many of which I can find for as low as $2 for a pair of clean pre-owned jeans, tops, sweaters, etc. I will pay for shipping from Florida to California.

I’m not a wealthy woman, I’m really very small time, but I have access to so many consignment stores. I just want to help in any way that I can

Story from http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/23/your.heroes.irpt/index.html

When the order to evacuate Bouquet Canyon neighborhood came down, it came fast. Thomas Davis’ wife, Lupe, managed to grab cats Nipper and Sweet Pea. Four others scattered and hid throughout their Santa Clarita, Calif., home.

A police officer arrived and told Lupe to get out right away, Davis says, forcing her to leave the other four cats and dog Buddy behind.
(more…)

Save the Children is among the agencies responding ( www.savethechildren.org ):

Save the Children is calling on the public to support the agency’s efforts to assist children and families affected by the devastating wildfires in Southern California. Since thousands of families and children are still in emergency shelters, Save the Children will need additional support as the agency begins to address the long-term needs of those who lost everything to the wildfires.

Save the Children has a team of crisis experts in San Diego providing assistance to those evacuated from their homes, assessing the damage and identifying other needs of children impacted by the wildfires.

About Save the Children
Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world.

For more information on this particular story, visit:
http://www.savethechildren.org/emergencies/us-california-fires/california-wildfires.html

Website: www.savethechildren.org

Volunteer Center of Los Angeles
(818) 908-5066
e-mail@vcla.net

L.A. Works
(323) 224-6510
info@laworks.com

Volunteer Center of Orange County
(714) 953-5757

Volunteer San Diego
(858) 636-4131
volunteer1@volunteersandiego.org

Riverside County Red Cross
(888) 831-0031

San Diego/Imperial counties Red Cross
(858) 309-1200

Orange County Red Cross
(714) 481-5300

Ventura County Red Cross
(805) 339-2234

Los Angeles Red Cross
(888) 864-3575

San Bernardino Red Cross
(909) 888-1481

America’s Second Harvest
(800) 771-2303

St. Vincent De Paul Village
(619) 446-2100

Goodwill
(888) 446-6394

Salvation Army (for donations and firefighters looking to volunteer)
(619) 231-6000

San Diego Humane Society
http://www.sdhumane.org

SPCA - Los Angeles
http://www.spcala.com

New Leash on Life (Castaic area)
http://www.newleash.org/home.asp

Escondido Humane Society
http://www.escondidohumanesociety.org/

(click from main page on each to read about their efforts.)

On the human front, the Red Cross is always the first out there on the scene and the first to help people.
You can donate to the Red Cross Los Angeles at:
http://www.redcrossla.org/

or the Red Cross San Diego at:
http://www.sdarc.org/site/pp.asp?c=erKQL4NQE&b=127361

If you come across a wild bird or other wild animal who seems to need help, please call one of these numbers, so that a licensed wildlife rehabilitator can care for the animal and then release him or her back to the wild.

For native wild birds and mammals in distress, anywhere in San Diego County, call the Project Wildlife Hotline (619) 225-9202

Another number to call for opossums or other small mammals is San Diego Wildlife Rehab at (619) 303 5968

• United States: all 50 states, Washington DC, and Guam
• Canada
• United Kingdom
• Japan
• Australia
• France
• Russia
• Colombia
• Mauritius
• Brazil
• India
• Greece
• Mexico
• Moldova
• Finland
• Sweden
• Germany

The desire to help another has no boundaries.

Here’s a sample of responses:

FIREFIGHTERS:

“I am preparing a data base of firefighters, social workers, para medics, etc. I have ten people with firefighter ratings prepared to leave from the bay area.”
– San Francisco Bay Area, California

“I am a Level II Fire fighter, Certified for Air Ports, Structural, HAZMAT Operational level as well. I would like to if I could be of assistance, relief, or just thrown a shovel and join a team.”
– Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“I am a former wildland firefighter and also have experience operating a disaster recovery center for evacuees of Hurricanes Katrina & Rita. I am available and willing to come down to California.”
– Anchorage, Alaska

MEDICAL:

“I am Red Cross trained to help in disasters. I fly back to DC tomorrow but could postpone my trip back to assist in Southern Cali.
Please call me so I can change my plane ticket.”
– Washington, DC

“Do you need nurses?”

LOGISTICS:

“I have experience in logistics set up and take down, food preparation …”
– Asheville, North Carolina

I OPEN MY HOME:

“I would like to open my home to a family in need of a temporary place to stay as result of the fires.”
– Los Angeles, California

JUST LET ME HELP:

“If is there anything that I can do to help, I will do anything that I can! just ask and if I’m able I will!”

“Please let me know what I can do to help.”
– Arcadia, California

“I am a Virtual Assistance business owner located in Tampa, Florida and I would like to volunteer any admin-type assistance that I can provide to you.”
– Tampa, Florida

“I can help.”
– San Francisco Bay Area, California

“Everything in the city has been reoccupied as of this afternoon,” said Maurice Luque, a spokesman for San Diego Fire and Rescue.

“Everything.”

People are “back in their homes,” Luque said. “The ones that have homes to go back into.”

Witch fire (Poway area, San Diego County): 197,990 acres burned; 805 houses destroyed; two dead, 10 firefighters injured
Possible cause: Downed power lines, a witness said.

Harris fire (southern San Diego County): 81,000 acres burned; 200 homes destroyed; 1 dead, 36 injured (25 civilians and 7 firefighters).
Cause: Unknown

Ranch Fire (Castaic): 55,756 acres burned; 1 house destroyed
Cause: Unknown

Buckweed Fire (Agua Dulce/Santa Clarita): 38,356 acres burned; 15 homes destroyed; 4 injured (3 civilians, 1 firefighter)
Suspected cause: Downed power lines

Poomacha Fire (Pauma Valley, San Diego County): 35,000 acres burned; 50 homes destroyed; 12 firefighters injured
Cause: A structure fire on La Jolla Indian Reservation that set off a brush fire

Santiago Fire (Orange County): 25,000 acres burned; 14 homes destroyed; 4 firefighters injured
Cause: Arson

Slide Fire (Running Springs): 11,366 acres burned; 200 homes destroyed
Cause: Unknown

Canyon Fire (Malibu): 4,565 acres burned; 6 homes destroyed; 3 firefighters injured
Suspected cause: Downed power lines

Magic Fire (Stevenson Ranch): 2,824 acres burned
Suspected cause: Sparks from welding by construction workers

Grass Valley Fire (Northwest Lake Arrowhead) 1,100 acres burned; 113 homes destroyed
Cause: Unknown

Little Mountain Fire (San Bernardino): 650 acres burned
Cause: Suspicious in nature

Rosa Fire (Temecula, Riverside County): 411 acres burned
Official cause: Arson

Martin Ranch Fire (San Bernardino): 140 acres burned
Cause: Suspicious