Migrants to Get Aid From Red Cross

One day after a North County minister criticized the Red Cross for doing too little to assist residents of a migrant camp burned out by last week’s Black Mountain brush fire, the agency offered new assistance and said it is re-evaluating its performance during the blaze.

The Rev. Rafael Martinez, executive director of the North County Chaplaincy, also learned Thursday that the San Diego Housing Commission has set aside $10,000 to help the laborers.

On Wednesday, the minister charged that the Red Cross had refused to assist hundreds of migrant laborers of the Los Diablos migrant camp, many of whom had lost all their possessions in the blaze.

A Red Cross spokesman said the group did not offer the workers the customary emergency services because there was no way to verify if the laborers indeed lived in the canyons blackened by the fire. On Thursday, the nonprofit agency changed its mind about helping the laborers.

“We called Rev. Martinez this morning to find out exactly what his needs are and how they fall under the services we provide,” said Tom Custer, a Red Cross spokesman.

“We’ve been criticized for our role in assisting the migrant workers during the recent blaze. After every disaster, we review our performance to see how we can improve. And that will happen again after this fire.”

The blaze burned 4,500 acres in the Black Mountain area near North City West. Officials have estimated that, before the fire, 400 to 600 people lived in the sprawling camp in makeshift hooches of wood and cardboard.

However, Joann Johnson, chief administrative aide for Deputy Mayor Abbe Wolfsheimer, said her office had requested emergency funds from the housing commission immediately after learning of the fire.

“We asked for the money because we saw that there were 500 to 600 people standing on a hillside who didn’t have anything left,” she said. “So we went looking for emergency funds for blankets and food, things like that.”

Mary Jo Riley, a spokeswoman for the city’s housing commission, said a check for $10,000 was sent Wednesday to Catholic Charities, which will disburse the funds to several groups--including the North County Chaplaincy--that are trying to help the migrant workers. Catholic Charities also will be responsible for accounting for the money.