Donations Pour In to Fillmore From Indiana

In a gesture of goodwill that brought tears to the eyes of disaster workers, Indiana firefighters Monday delivered 35 tons of earthquake relief supplies to the hard-hit town of Fillmore.

“The people of Indianapolis poured out their hearts,” Fillmore Fire Chief Pat Askren said. “It renews your faith in people.”

Askren said Capt. Randy Frye and Chief Warren White of the Marion County Fire Chief’s Assn. in Indiana called him after the Jan. 17 earthquake and asked how their department might help the residents of Fillmore.

Donations poured in to 30 Indianapolis-area fire stations when the word went out. Indianapolis-based Mayflower Transit Inc. donated two 18-wheelers to haul the goods, which included a load of food donated by Marsh Supermarkets, also of Indianapolis.

The cargo of food, diapers, baby formula and other supplies arrived Monday morning at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Fillmore, just as relief workers had run short of such staples, Askren said.

“Volunteers had tears in their eyes and people were waiting in line as the goods were unloaded,” Askren said. “One woman who had a baby in her arms said she had no diapers left. It made her day.”

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In Indiana, Assistant Fire Chief Rick Batza of the Washington Township Fire Department said Indianapolis residents responded positively to the plea for help.

“Your community needed the help this time, but next time it could very well be us,” Batza said.

In related news, federal emergency workers announced that disaster application centers in Simi Valley and Glendale will close at 7 p.m. Wednesday because of decreasing activity. A third disaster center at Calabasas High School will close at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Simi Valley center at the Ronald Reagan Library, 40 Presidential Drive, will close, but the other Simi Valley center, at the Sycamore Drive Community Center at 1692 Sycamore Drive, will remain open until further notice.

For information about federal or state assistance, call the 24-hour, toll-free registration number, (800) 462-9029, or for the hearing-impaired, (800) 462-7585.