Red Cross Issues Appeal for Donations

The Ventura County Red Cross chapter is appealing for donations in the wake of house fires in Ventura, Oxnard and El Rio this week.

“This has been a particularly tragic week with seven children involved in these fires,” said Richard Rink, director of Red Cross Disaster Services. “There were no injuries involved, but it has been particularly hard on the children who have lost their homes and their possessions.”

In the latest incident involving children, a malfunctioning dryer caused a fire Thursday morning that spread from the laundry room to the dining room of an El Rio home at 217 E. Stroube St. The Red Cross assisted single mother Josette Martinez and her two children who returned that evening to find themselves homeless, he said.

A suspicious fire later that same day burned a Ventura couple out of their home. The Red Cross found them emergency shelter as well.

A record-setting number of fires during the last two years has wiped out the chapter’s reserves, Rink said. In the three months from July through September, the chapter provided $30,000 in disaster relief alone, he said.

“Unfortunately, as we approach the holiday season, we know from our experience during the past several years that we can expect between five and 10 families [who] will experience the catastrophe of house fires before we reach Jan. 1.”

Donations may be sent to: Emergency Needs Campaign, American Red Cross of Ventura County, P.O. Box 5850, Ventura 93005.