Post 283 has launched an online resource hub and stands ready to serve as a community center in wake of Palisades Fire.
In his 30 years of service in Army special operations, Jim Cragg saw plenty of warzones — but nothing like seeing his hometown devastated by wildfire.
“This is where my kid plays. This is where I taught her to play basketball. The memories are gutted. Literally, the ground is smoking,” Cragg, past commander of Ronald Reagan Pacific Palisades Post 283, told NBC Los Angeles (see the interview below).
“Things are not there anymore. Things are replaced by ash and smoke and twisted steel; right behind us, that times a thousand,” Cragg said as he gestured at a destroyed house. “And I climbed the hill and you can look out and you can feel great for the people whose houses made it. But it’s killing me, and when people come back, I don’t know how they’re going to take it.”
As of Friday morning, the Palisades Fire had destroyed over 5,000 buildings and burned nearly 20,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and other areas of the Santa Monica Mountains. The Palisades fire is one of several devastating Los Angeles County.
But Cragg’s home still stands, as does Post 283. And he and the rest of the post’s Legion Family are moving rapidly to prepare to help their community.
While the post building itself is closed, they’ve set up a resource page online, the Palisades Fire Resource Hub.
“We designed this page to be a living resource,” said Post 283 Commander Joe Ramirez. “We’re committed to updating it regularly as we learn more about what our community needs during this difficult time.”
The resource hub will include mental health support resources, housing and food assistance information, insurance assistance and volunteer opportunities.
Cragg said the post will be ready to serve as a community center as soon as Los Angeles city officials give them the go-ahead.
“Our building is ready to go. We want the city of Los Angeles to know that they can bring their services up and utilize our facility. But most importantly, we want our community mates, the people of Palisades who are crying out, we want them to know that we are here for them, we have a place for them, and we are there to get the rebuilding started as soon as the city wants to give us a go sign,” Cragg said.
“There are a lot of fires going on. So what we can do here, we’re ready to step up,” Cragg added.
Post 283 will also provide updates on its Facebook page, Ramirez said.
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