A U-Haul and a 600-mile trip: Coachella Valley women drive donations to Paradise to help fire victims

Ricardo Lopez | Palm Springs Desert Sun

Show Caption Hide Caption Camp Fire survivor describes her terrifying evacuation Evacuees from Northern California describe an "apocalyptic" scene as they fled the deadly Camp Fire.

The U-Haul truck parked in Sian Thiessen's Palm Desert driveway on Monday bore just one hint of where it was headed. In black marker, a sign on the side of the truck read, "Here we come, Paradise!"

Inside, the box truck was beginning to fill up with donated clothes, pet supplies and household items destined to make the nearly 600-mile drive to Paradise, the small northern California city reduced to ashes by the deadly Camp Fire on Nov. 8. Residents who lost homes to the Camp and Woolsey fires near Malibu are entering the holiday season with little more than their lives and items they may have collected in the terror and confusion of a last-minute evacuation.

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Nearly two weeks after the first first struck, thousands remain displaced, some still barred from returning to their homes to see what remains. Local, state and federal officials are working to contain the fire and slowly begin the rebuilding process.

Coachella Valley residents have mobilized, stepping in to provide a hand amid the devastation that has struck just before many typically gather to spend time and give thanks with family.

Thiessen, 55, and her friend, Joan Palmtag, 57, began receiving donations early this week after they put out a call on social media for clothes, pet supplies and household goods that Palmtag and her sister will deliver to communities affected by the wildfire. "We're just trying to get everything we possibly can up there as quick as possible," said Palmtag, regional director for the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Palmtag was preparing to meet a friend in Orange County, who also was collecting donations in another U-Haul truck. They planned to drive together to Paradise on Tuesday, hoping to make it in time for Thanksgiving. "It's heartbreaking," Palmtag said. "It's not only about money. It's about survival at this point. Anything that anybody can do to get goods and services and medication and things like that up to that area is really important."

Palmtag will forego her usual Thanksgiving plans, but she thinks this is better. "Normally we eat too much, and we cook too much and have an abundance of things, so to be able to make even the smallest bit of difference for someone who's going through the most horrific thing of their whole life, that's really what Thanksgiving is all about to me," she said.

Thiessen, a medical laser spa specialist, said she was gratified by the outpouring of donations, motioning to a pile of freshly dry-cleaned clothes as an example of the community's desire to help. One box of items had a short note scribbled on it: "Packed with prayers for all of you," the well-wisher said.

In addition to donations, others, like Indian Wells City Manager Wade McKinney, have volunteered their labor to provide respite to beleaguered Malibu city officials. McKinney on Saturday helped staff Malibu's emergency operations center, assisting city officials coordinate the post-fire response, which included restoring utilities and cell phone service.

McKinney said city managers from around the state had answered the call for extra bodies from the California City Management Foundation, an advocacy and support group for more than 500 city managers in the state. The city manager for Beverly Hills, he said, took the shift after him.

"It was really great," McKinney said. "You learn more about the staff and the emergency operations and you can assist with the expertise you have and help come up with ideas and repairs for their own recovery."

As thousands of fire evacuees still struggle to find permanent housing, former Paradise resident Mary Lee Harmon has recently settled into her new retirement community in La Quinta. The 86-year-old retired pharmacy technician had lived in the northern California town for two years, moving there to be near her son, Randy. Now, her home is the Coachella Valley.

When the Camp fire broke out that morning, Harmon's son was among those who received the emergency alert to evacuate and instructed Harmon to be ready in 10 minutes. She packed her walker, medications and her dog, Sparky. When they left her Paradise retirement community, the fire had already reached the trees behind the cottages where some retirees lived.

"I don't know if they got them out or not," Harmon said in an interview in her new apartment. "It happened so fast because of the wind."

Harmon's luck extended to finding housing in La Quinta. She found a unit in a sister property to her former retirement community and her previous rent was honored, even though it was substantially less than what she might have paid normally for the La Quinta unit.

Harmon's daughter, Palm Desert real estate agent Nan Gillin, drove to Sacramento a few days after the fire to pick up her mom. Sitting next to her mom on Tuesday, Gillin said she's grateful her family managed to escape the fire, even if her brother Randy's home was lost.

"Nobody was injured in our family," Gillin said. "That's why we feel particularly thankful and grateful (this Thanksgiving) because the rest of it is just stuff."

Coachella Valley mobilizes:

The Coachella Valley Chapter of National Charity League is accepting donations of new items, including blankets, clothes and unwrapped Christmas gifts, through Friday, Nov. 30. Donations will be accepted from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily at the Palm Desert Charter Middle School parking lot, 74200 Rutledge Way, Palm Desert. For more information, contact: Vicki Petek 760-898-1962 or Ellen Way 760-831-4233.

Other ways to donate: