Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Local Red Cross volunteers head to Maui in wake of deadly wildfires

Relief workers continue to pour into Hawaii — and step forward on the island state — after a deadly wildfire ravaged parts of Maui.

Joining the effort this week is Wanda Martinez-Johncox from Canandaigua. She is the fourth American Red Cross volunteer from the local area to head to Maui.

Wanda Martinez-Johncox
Provided photo
Wanda Martinez-Johncox

“Today, I've been more reflecting,” she said while making final preparations Tuesday. "Trying to prepare myself how to communicate, how to respect their culture and what they have to say — and just listen to their pain.”

Martinez-Johncox will be working as a Spanish translator. She was scheduled to depart Wednesday morning. The other volunteers left late last week.

Initially she was assigned to hurricane relief in California, but she got rerouted after that storm was downgraded. A native of Puerto Rico, she has responded to a number of hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods over the years. This is her first fire and her first visit to Hawaii.

The deadliest U.S. wildfires in more than a century killed at least 115 people. That was the count as of Monday, with more than 1,000 names on the FBI’s tentative, unconfirmed list of people still missing.

The relief effort involving the Red Cross is substantial.

“There are literally hundreds of Hawaiian locals stepping forward (to help),” said Michael Tedesco, regional spokesman for the Red Cross. “And 300 (volunteers) from the continental U.S. trying to help out.”

Martinez-Johncox is a native of Puerto Rico who leads a group called Re-lief Corp. The nonprofit was formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and today works in areas of disaster relief as well as aiding veterans and the homeless.

Brian Sharp is WXXI's investigations and enterprise editor. He also reports on business and development in the area. He has been covering Rochester since 2005. His journalism career spans nearly three decades.