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West Sacramento woman who lost home in flood drives truckload of donations to L.A. fire victims

West Sacramento woman drives donations to Los Angeles fire victims
West Sacramento woman drives donations to Los Angeles fire victims 03:57

WEST SACRAMENTO -- A West Sacramento woman who lost everything when her home flooded in Vacaville knew she had to step in to help those now suffering the same fate in the Los Angeles-area wildfires. 

When she saw the fires spark last Tuesday, she rallied her community and gathered a truckload of donations to help those who need it most. 

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Tammy Pacheco

"Well, it all started with just a couple of cases of water, and it just started to grow. We started gathering a lot of supplies," Tammy Pacheco said. 

She made the trip in one day -- driving a truckload of donations six hours down to Los Angeles County on Tuesday then turning around and driving back to West Sacramento. 

The trip comes exactly one week after the fatal fires reduced more than 12,000 homes, businesses and structures to rubble. It has also claimed at least 25 lives as of Tuesday night. 

"Honestly, my heart feels really heavy, but it feels happy to know the community is coming together," Pacheco said. 

Pacheco collected diapers, brand-new baby clothes, jackets, blankets, pallets of food, water and personal hygiene supplies for both fire victims and firefighters. 

It's something to ease the burden for those who have to start over. 

"You have gone through something similar. Tell me about when you lost your own home?" I asked Pacheco. 

"When I lost my house, we had to swim out, first of all. It was so devastating. We woke up that morning, I put my feet on the ground and it was full of water," Pacheco said. 

Pacheco's Vacaville home was lost when Solano County and the surrounding area suffered devastating flooding back in 2005 into New Year's Day 2006. 

"You can relate to these fire victims that have lost everything. Is that why you felt like you wanted to help?" I asked. 

"Yes," Pacheco responded. "Helping each other is what we are here for. It's what we are here for." 

It's humanity on full display in the city of angels. 

Pacheco said she already plans to gather more donations in West Sacramento and surrounding and drive back to Los Angeles next week. She coordinated the donation drive through the city of Lynwood and its mayor's office in Los Angeles County

If you'd like to donate items to Pacheco's drive, she can be contacted by phone at 916-627-8385.

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