Local Red Cross supports wildfire relief
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) – More than two and a half million acres have now burned in the Cascades region of Oregon, and one local woman was there helping with disaster operations.
Jillian Attaway, the Community Disaster Program Specialist for the Yuma-La Paz County American Red Cross, spent two weeks in Bend, Oregon.
During her deployment, she worked with the Burns Paiute Tribe, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and the Umatilla Tribe. She helped provide a safe place for local tribes affected by the fires.
“Each day, I worked with emergency managers from each tribal entity, making sure they had everything they needed to be supported by the Red Cross and also to be able to open shelters if needed independently. We did a lot of supply drops to make sure people with pets had support, as well as people with intellectual disabilities,” Attaway said.
The American Red Cross says it opened 25 shelters, provided over 1,400 overnight stays and served over 14,000 meals and snacks in 16 different cities impacted by the western wildfires.
Attaway says the most rewarding part of her deployment was building strong relationships with local staff and volunteers.
“We knew that we were leaving the region, the local staff, and volunteers really healthy relationships that we had worked really hard on the two weeks that we were there making sure they had the appropriate contacts, they knew who to call if there was another wildfire, and making sure they had what they needed to continue on,” Attaway said.
From Yuma to Oregon, Attaway says the mission was the same, helping communities stay safe, supported, and ready in the face of disaster.
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