SLO County rallies to help victims of deadly Los Angeles fires. ‘We are here for you’
When news of fast-moving fires sweeping a devastating path through the Los Angeles area broke Tuesday night, Del Owen couldn’t sleep, worrying her daughter’s friend was in danger.
The young woman had moved to Santa Monica alone, Owen said, and doesn’t have any family in the area. Then she was ordered to evacuate as the wind-whipped fires quickly raged out of control.
“Of course I was worried,” Owen, a San Luis Obispo resident, told The Tribune on Thursday afternoon. “She’s got a Mini Cooper and has to evacuate with a cat and a big dog. Where is she going?”
Worries about the young woman and the thousands of other people displaced by the fires raced through her head all night, Owen said — until in the bright light of day she knew what she would do.
The former event planner went on Nextdoor and did what she does well: She organized.
Owen, who owns a large sleeper van, posted on the social media platform asking for people to donate items that would help those displaced by the fire, like sleeping bags, tents, pet crates, toiletries, dog food, clothing, phone chargers and more.
She planned to collect those items in her van and transport them down south as soon as officials would allow volunteers in to help.
And she’s not alone.
Owen was one of several San Luis Obispo County residents to mobilize in the days after a slew of wind-driven fires erupted across Los Angeles County this week, offering everything from donations to promises of free housing and meal support.
“It’s just unimaginable,” Owen told The Tribune from the parking lot off Santa Rosa Street in San Luis Obispo, where she was gathering donations. “And I just couldn’t sit here. I’m retired. I have the time. They’re our neighbors — a lot of people in need.”
At least 10 dead, thousands under evacuation orders for Los Angeles fires
As of Friday morning, five major wildfires had burned more than 36,100 acres in the greater Los Angeles area, resulting in at least 10 deaths.
The largest, the Palisades Fire, burned more than 19,900 acres along the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, destroying 5,300 structures along that stretch — making it the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history, according to NBC news.
Nearby, the Eaton Fire in Altadena and Pasadena reached 13,956 acres, leaving in its wake a similarly devastating path of between 4,000 and 5,000 destroyed structures.
On Friday, nearly 180,000 were still under evacuation orders and 350,000 were without power, according to CNN. The number of deaths could grow as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office has so far been unable to examine much of the wreckage.
With the fires are still largely unchecked — as of Friday, the Palisades Fire was 8% contained and the Eaton Fire was 3% — the number of those impacted is likely to continue to rise in the coming days.
Cambria father, daughter offer rooms, property to fire victims
As they watched the coverage of the fires burning in Southern California, San Luis Obispo County residents like Reagan Catalan and her father Steve Kniffen knew it could just as easily have been them and their neighbors fleeing destruction.
“Being in Cambria, and being in a dangerous fire zone ourselves, it’s a scary thing that you never want to become a reality, you know?” Catalan told The Tribune on Thursday evening. “We’re heartbroken for these people in L.A.”
Rather than sit back and watch, however, they decided to open up their homes to those in need.
In a Thursday morning post on the Facebook page for Kniffen’s Sea Chest Oyster Bar and Seafood Restaurant in Cambria, the pair offered to house fire victims needing a place to stay.
“If anyone has been displaced due to the fire, we are extending our open arms to you,” the post read. “Stay with us — Steve and others have extra rooms/property at their homes that they are opening up to you!”
“We are here for you,” the post concluded.
Catalan said the offer came after her father reached out to her Thursday morning saying they needed to do something to help.
He and his wife have extra rooms in their home, plus a lot next door to their house that could be used, she said. Catalan meanwhile also has an extra room in her home and space on the property where people could stay.
“My dad’s always been a really generous man who’s helped his community a lot,” she said. “It’s just a part of his character.”
Though nobody has taken them up on their offer just yet, other San Luis Obispo County residents have already been reaching out saying they too could help house people who need a place to stay outside of the Los Angeles area, Catalan said.
Anyone wishing to get in contact with the pair to take them up on their offer can do so by reaching out through the restaurant’s social media pages at facebook.com/seachestoysterbar or instagram.com/seachestoysterbar or by calling the Sea Chest during business hours at 805-927-4514.
Going forward, Catalan said they also hope to be able to offer specials meals for anyone displaced by the fires.
“We’re supporting them, and we feel for them,” she said. “This offer is a very serious offer, and if anyone really needs help or needs anything — Sea Chest is here.”
SLO County animal shelter takes in dogs, cats from LA area
Humans aren’t the only ones impacted by the fires.
USA Today reported that the more than a dozen shelters operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control and Los Angeles Animal Services were full or very nearly near capacity as of Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Pasadena Humane shelter was trying to provide emergency medical care to animals orphaned by the fire, USA Today said.
To help, Woods Humane Society sent an intake team to transport 17 animals from one of the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control’s shelters, the San Luis Obispo nonprofit said in an Instagram post on Thursday night.
“For our role in the relief effort, Woods was able to provide basic pet supplies to the emergency shelter and transfer out dogs and cats who had been in the animal shelter prior to the emergency,” the post read. “This makes room in the L.A. shelters for pets temporarily separated from their owners and unhoused by the ongoing destruction.”
The shelter said it is in communication with other shelters that serve impacted areas of Los Angeles and is “ready to deploy our transport team again as needed.”
SLO County businesses hold donation drives to help fire victims
It’s not just individual San Luis Obispo County residents like Owen, Kniffen or Catalan, or nonprofits like Woods Humane Society who have stepped up to help — several local businesses are also looking to do their part.
Meathead Movers, which is headquartered in San Luis Obispo, launched a donation drive Thursday across all of its Central and Southern California locations, urging donors to help “#FillThoseTrucks.”
“Community support is one of the reasons why we are here,” CEO Aaron Steed said in a news release. “When we watched the destruction of the wildfires unfold, we knew what we needed to do.“
Steed said the company, known for its student athlete workers, has helped in “dozens” of similar donation drives for previous natural disasters and humanitarian crises.
The most current drive calls for the community to donate essential supplies to international disaster relief organization Operation USA, which will then distribute the disaster kits to victims of the wildfires, the release said.
The organization is looking for donations of toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, soap, hand towels, baby wipes and bottled water, according to the release. All items must be unopened with an expiration date of more than 12 months past the donation date.
Donations will be accepted starting Friday and last through Monday, the release said. All donations can be dropped off at the lobby of your nearest Meathead Movers location from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The devastating L.A. wildfires have left many in urgent need of support,” Richard Walden, president and CEO of Operation USA, said in the release. “Operation USA is incredibly grateful to our long-term partners at Meathead Movers for once again stepping up to organize a donation drive to help disaster-affected communities. Their generous efforts, along with public support, ensure that essential supplies will reach evacuees who need them the most. Together, we’re making a difference.”
For additional information about Meathead Movers, visit: meatheadmovers.com.
Local home appliance chain Idler’s Home was also collecting donations for those impacted by the fires.
According to a post on the company’s Facebook page Thursday, Idler’s was collecting donations of non-perishable food, warm clothes, toiletries, water, pillows, baby formula, charging cables and portables, paper towels, tissues, blankets, cleaning supplies and sleeping bags.
Donated items can be dropped off at any of the chain’s Central Coast locations in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Santa Maria.
Donations will be picked up Sunday and transported to those in need.
‘It’s a small effort’: SLO County woman gathers donations for Southern California residents
As of Thursday, Owen said she was trying to figure out the best way to get the hundreds of donated items she had collected over the past two days — from dog carriers to water and cash donations — to those who need them.
She was in talks with Idler’s to see if the business’ larger resources could better transport the goods, she said, though it was still unclear if that would be the best option or if she should take them down in her van herself.
“I want to make sure these things are dropped at the shelters, where they are going to be helpful,” she said.
For now she’s focusing on the task at hand: gathering as much as she can.
Owen said she plans to once again collect items for drop-off on Friday from noon to 5 p.m. in the Mechanics Bank parking lot in San Luis Obispo.
She’ll also update people who wish to help out on her Nextdoor post.
She added: “It’s a small effort — but it’s something.”
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