GARDEN CITY, Idaho — As communities in California prepare to rebuild and recover from devastating wildfires, an Idaho-based disaster relief company is standing by to help. Disaster Response sent a team with gear from Idaho to aid in rebuilding and repairing homes.
“We are assessing what’s happening right now. The National Guard and police have barricaded the different fire zones," says Brian Walker, with Disaster Response.
"The Eaton Fire, The Pacific Palisades Fire and the Hurst Fire are all closed off to anyone other than emergency vehicles," says Walker.
The Disaster Response team is on standby until those areas reopen.
“We are estimating probably not for another three to four days will we be even allowed to enter these communities to see what the level of devastation is, as far as what we can assist with," says Walker.
Their team drove trucks full of gear to L.A. to help the communities impacted by wildfires repair what is left of their homes.
“The fire came through and unlike other fires that I’ve been called out to, usually there’s some part of a structure, still part of the home, that remains. But in this instance, there’s nothing that remained. It’s completely gone. The homes that burned completely burned," says Walker.
Disaster Response goes into homes impacted by fire, smoke or water damage and fixes them before families can return, something Walker says is a long road ahead.
“And it’s gonna take a long time for these communities to rebuild and get through all the red tape and filing the claims and things that they have to do. It’s a huge process," says Walker.
