RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Major wildfires in the Los Angeles area continue to burn as firefighters struggle to contain the flames. Thousands of people have lost their homes, and entire communities have burned. Now, American Red Cross volunteers from North Carolina are heading west to help.
Zonia Quero Ziada has been with the Red Cross for 20 years, joining to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. She is one of the volunteers traveling from North Carolina to California to help people impacted by the massive wildfires.
“There’s going to be a big need. We know we have thousands of people in shelters, thousands of people displaced,” Ziada said.
This is far from her first disaster. It is not even her first wildfire: She used to live in Washington.
“Sadly, that was like ground zero of wildfires, you know, for several years,” she said. “At the time, I was doing shelter.”
However, she said this could be one of the worst.
“It broke my heart to see the videos in the press,” she said. “Whole neighborhoods completely turned to ashes. You cannot just sit in your couch and look at the news. You just have to do something. You have to move. You have to act.”
In California, Ziada will be doing orientations for other Red Cross volunteers as they arrive and teaching local volunteers who want to help. She said she is as ready as she can be.
“When you get there, it doesn’t matter how much you think you’re prepared, you’re never prepared because every disaster is different,” she said.
The Red Cross has more volunteers in North Carolina on standby, ready to head to California if they are needed.
Source: Fox 8 News Channel
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