GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Cal Fire officials say the massive Camp Fire in Northern California will likely not reach full containment until at least November 30th, but the American Red Cross is sending help now.
Damage totals are soaring with nearly two-thousand additional structures to the destroyed list, for a total of just under 16-thousand.
At the start of the week, 12 people from Wisconsin were either in California or on their way.
“They are out there doing anything from sheltering to helping with mental health issues to driving the emergency response vehicle.”
Justin Kern, Communications Officer for the American Red Cross of Wisconsin says some are from Northeast Wisconsin and it is just the start.
“I do think especially with the holidays and everything that there will be another wave of people and a lot some of those people will come from Wisconsin.”
The fact that nearly a thousand people are still unaccounted for means they are working to help families reunite and they are leaving many resources available in case they need to help more.
“We really are open to help thousands of people if needed, but some of that is due to a big question mark of how many more people are unaccounted for?”
Kern says over the weekend, they had 1,300 people at 16 shelters, but they are keeping each shelter to under capacity in case they do have to help more.”
The Red Cross also encourages anyone who has been displaced or has family missing to log onto safeandwell.org to help with the reunification process.
He says a response for wildfire is quite a bit different than a response after a hurricane.
“It could happen at any moment and it can happen fast and big.”
Those interested in helping the cause are encouraged to make a monetary donation to the Red Cross for the fire relief.
“We can turn that money into what is directly needed on the ground.”
