As wildfires devastated communities in Southern California last month, the region received assistance from across the country and even got aid from outside the U.S., with Canada and Mexico sending personnel and material, and offers of help from Ukraine and Iran.
The city of Turlock was no different, joining the relief effort by sending firefighters and comfort dog Genesis to help in a variety of a ways.
“I was the captain on OES No. 339 that went down to the Palisades fire,” said Capt. Jason Bernard of the Turlock Fire Department. “The state provides the fire engine (OES 339), and we provide the staffing.”
Joining Bernard from TFD were engineer Jonathan Bennett and firefighters Kurt Seeberger and Conner Blair.
“We got orders to go on Jan. 11, although the fire started days before that,” said Bernard. “There wasn’t a large amount of fire by the time we made it down. We went down as a task force, a mix of different types of engines.”
That task force was made up of personnel from Turlock, Patterson, West Stanislaus Fire Department, Central Calaveras, Foresthill, and North Lake Tahoe.
Also pressed into service was Genesis, a member of the Lutheran Church Charities K-9 Comfort Dog Team.
“Genesis is that bridge that often gets things going,” said Pam Youngdale, coordinator for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church’s comfort-dog ministry. “Especially with first responders. They’re in their own league, and sometimes having a dog to engage can really relieve the stress that they’re under.”
Pam and her husband Ron, who was the senior pastor at Good Shepherd for 36 years, along with Tom and Sue Baldwin, and Ken and Amy Fitzgerald, are Genesis’ caregivers (the dog lives with these families on a rotational basis). The Youngdales, Baldwins, and Fitzgeralds, along with Bill Preuss and Debra Hall-Koftinow, are all Genesis’ handlers (they’re trained to handle the dog during public interactions).
The Baldwins accompanied Genesis to Southern California, leaving on Jan. 17 and returning Jan. 23.
“We saw people who had lost their homes but had not yet lost their hope,” said Tom Baldwin. “They were happy to be alive and had a belief that things were going to get better.”
“We also met some angry people, but the dog did bring them some comfort.”
Genesis had requests for meetings from first responders as well as students and faculty at two schools, and from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
Genesis was one of six LCC comfort dogs on the scene in Southern California, joining Rahab from Stockton, Micah from Elk Grove, Isaac from Spokane, Wash., and Lois and Salome from Las Vegas.
The dogs went out in teams of two — Genesis partnered with Rahab — to various locations throughout the devastated areas.
“Genesis seems to be drawn to the people who are hurting,” said Sue Baldwin. “The first night when we arrived at the hotel, we were sitting in the lobby and met an elderly woman who had lost her home. She was telling us about her house and how she’d forgotten her wedding ring. She’d been a teacher. It was nice to just let her tell her story and just be there for people. That’s what we and the dog are for. The mission was right there that night.”
