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Calif. couple donates everything in house to firefighters who lost homes

A veteran and his wife, who are moving to North Carolina, packed up a large storage truck filled with most of their belongings to help dozens of families

By FireRescue1 Staff

GILROY, Calif. — Instead of taking all of their belongings with them when they move to North Carolina, a veteran and his wife are leaving most of them behind for firefighters who lost everything in the Camp fire.

KCRA reported that Kim and Annette Ringeisen filled a 26-foot storage truck with most of the items in their house and are donating them to dozens of families in need.

“We want to turnkey everybody back up in their lives, so they can put this behind them and move forward,” he said. “We decided to donate all of our household goods to the firefighters.”

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Kim, who has around 15 years of search and rescue experience, helped first responders in recovery efforts in Paradise.

“I was searching about 100 homes in Paradise,” he said. “I’m also a combat veteran, but this was unimaginable. We had to rewrite ways of doing things and figure out new ways to take care of what we need to take care of out there.”

Kim said he felt compelled to do more upon returning home, and that’s when the couple decided to donate their items.

“We didn’t lose our sentimental things,” Kim said. “We didn’t lose something to a fire very abruptly. So, I think it’s good if we can donate everything we have. We’ll start over. They’re starting over. So, I think it’s going to be a good thing, a good memory for us in how we helped.”

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