This September, one of California’s worst wildfires devastated the lives and livelihoods of thousands. Firefighters from across the state teamed up to tackle the blaze, putting their lives on hold to protect communities seriously threatened by the record fire.
Now that the flames are out, there’s so much work to be done. Among the wreckage, lives have to be rebuilt, items lost have to be replaced and a thriving community has to be restored.
“Driving around the areas hit, it looks like a war zone. There’s nothing left,” says Vince Malnati, store manager and Team Depot community captain at store #8408 in Ukiah, Calif., the closest to the fires. “Home Depot store managers from across our district knew we had to come together and do anything we could to help.”
When the affected areas reopened to the community, families sought ways to sort through what little remained of their homes. Vince’s team made sifters out of wood and mesh to help – a way to make the overwhelming process of looking through ashes for anything left behind as easy as possible. They joined forces with other disaster response groups on the ground to give the sifters out to anyone in need.
As the holiday season approached, the group of six area store managers realized that thanking those who risked their lives to defeat the blaze was just as important as helping the community start to recover.
“We wanted to bring cheer back to the people that put it all on the line for us this holiday,” says Vince. “So, we decked the fire house halls with holiday cheer. We strung lights, brought Christmas trees and decorated three firehouses in the area.”
The firehouses are also putting together a holiday wish list of their own. The Home Depot Foundation will be donating $10,000 to the local stations to help replenish tools from their wish lists that they lost fighting the blaze.
“It’s going to be tough for the next few years as people are trying to figure out what they can do to start over,” says Vince. “You never want to be a part of such a travesty, but we’re here to take care of the folks in our community. That’s what we’ll continue to do as the rebuilding begins.”
