Lucy in a wildfire shelter in Winnipeg.
“I like helping the community and giving back, so when I saw the opportunity to deploy outside the U.S., it grabbed my attention.”
Lucy Rojas is no stranger to disaster work. The Red Cross veteran, based in Monterey County with the Northern California Coastal region, recently finished a deployment to Canada to assist with the Canadian Red Cross response to the 2025 wildfires. But her initial disaster response was stateside in 2018.
“In 2018, I was deployed to the Parkland shooting; I was an intern at the (Red Cross) Broward County Chapter in Florida when it happened,” she said. The Red Cross was one of many humanitarian organizations that responded to the Feb. 14 mass casualty event at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Seventeen people lost their lives that day. The Red Cross provided on-site support at the Family Assistance Center.
“Then I was deployed to a shelter the Red Cross opened in response to a fire at a local senior living complex. Just as that was wrapping up, the Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse happened, and I was part of that response. All of this happened within three months.”
Lucy was not deterred by cadence of these traumatic events and instead leaned into her role as a Red Crosser. Seven years later, she is a member of the Community Action Program (CAP) team in Monterey County where she serves as a coordinator. The program aims to connect with hyper-local organizations to make communities more resilient in the face of disaster.
“I assess community needs, particularly for vulnerable populations, and collaborate with community-based non-profit organizations to integrate disaster preparedness and response into existing services,” she said. “As CAP coordinator, I also play a key part in partner engagement, and communication efforts.”
Lucy (right) with CAP manager Gabriela Perez Albarracin (middle) and coordinator Maria Magana (left) at local partner Rancho Cielo.
Alongside her CAP work, she deploys to Red Cross disaster responses, including this summer’s wildfire response in Canada.
“I wanted to learn how the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) operates, how they partner with the American Red Cross (ARC) and the differences between the two organizations. But most importantly, I wanted to help the local community.”
Following an outbreak of more than 160 wildfires across the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan in May of this year, Manitoba declared a state of emergency on July 10 as intense heat waves and fire conditions impacted much of Atlantic Canada. As of August 9, the fires have burned 17.9 million acres, prompted nearly 70,000 evacuations and claimed two lives.
During her three-week deployment in Winnipeg, Lucy worked in sheltering and logistics. Upon arrival, she attended an orientation by the Canadian Red Cross with important information on cultural sensitivities, as indigenous communities comprised the majority of evacuees.
“They don’t like to be called ‘tribes,’ and instead prefer ‘indigenous communities,’” she noted.
She was first posted at an ARC-managed shelter where she assisted residents and helped entertain children who found themselves evacuated from home with little to do. A fellow volunteer, who knew how to make balloon animals, taught Lucy how to make a balloon dog – a big hit with the kids!
After 10 days in the shelter, she transferred to the logistics team where she worked directly with the Canadian Red Cross.
“It was interesting, they had different shelters run by the CRC, and I got to see how they (operated).”
The Canadian government accommodates residents displaced by disaster by sheltering them in hotels. However, the number of wildfire evacuees exceeded available hotel rooms and the ARC was deployed in to support congregate sheltering.
As part of Logistics, Lucy was assigned to a mobile team that visited both shelters and hotels to do wellness checks, deliver supplies and address pending needs.
When residents learned their villages had been given the all clear by officials, the ARC and CRC worked together to bring them home. The fires had impacted very remote areas of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, displacing communities accessible only by boat and air. Several of these communities inhabited islands in large freshwater lakes, meaning residents had first fled in boats before boarding planes to safety. The ARC coordinated transportation from the hotels and shelters to the airport while the CRC arranged flights home.
The fires also knocked out power for many of these communities, leaving them without electricity or running water. The ARC arranged for shipments of propane tanks, bottled water and nonperishable food on outbound flights, ensuring that both people and essentials made it safely home.
Lucy (left) stands with American Red Cross volunteer Josh Flenniken (middle) and Daniel Jin with the Canadian Red Cross (right).
To date, the 2025 Canadian wildfires are second only to 2023’s wildfire event in terms of carbon emissions, and areas continue to burn. While American Red Crossers have since returned home, wildfire risks remain high in North America, with fires impacting areas throughout the western U.S.
Back in Monterey County, Lucy has resumed her work with CAP. The program will celebrate its first year in Monterey County later this summer, and recently facilitated donations of solar work stations and a generator to local partner Rancho Cielo.
Though the risk of disaster is ongoing, so is the work and mission of the Red Cross. Thanks to humanitarians like Lucy Rojas, we will continue to meet the need – at home, in our communities, and beyond.
Learn more about the American Red Cross response to the 2025 Canadian wildfires and check out the Red Cross national social media account’s post about Lucy’s deployment. Finally, disaster preparedness is essential for everyone – get prepared today by visiting redcross.org/prepare.
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