Donations flow in for Winton fire victims

Dozens of people who lost their homes when a May 20 fire destroyed their Winton apartment complex are receiving assistance from the local school district.

The Winton community and a number of area schools have begun gathering clothes, blankets, shoes, toys and hygiene products for the roughly 60 people displaced by the blaze at the Schoolhouse Apartments, which is across Walnut Avenue from Crookham Elementary.

No one was reported injured in the fire, which broke out just before 7 a.m. that day and destroyed 18 units, according to authorities. Investigators have not stated what may have caused the fire, which was fueled by strong winds and spread quickly throughout the complex’s common roof.

The most recent help came Tuesday from students and faculty from Atwater’s Mitchell Senior School, who arrived at Crookham with a moving truck packed with about 2,815 items donated for the fire victims.

Kelly Joslin, an eighth-grade English teacher, said the fire was on many students’ minds at Mitchell as they could see wafting smoke that morning. “We could see the smoke from our grounds,” she said. “Reading that 60 people were displaced … we said we had to do something.”

So Joslin cooked up an idea to challenge the seventh- and eighth-graders to come up with the needed items. Then Samantha Woodall, a teacher who oversees the Associated Student Body, took the baton and organized the effort.

Woodall said the items were gathered in four days. “(Mitchell students) understood how fortunate they were and wanted to help,” she said.

The displaced families were aided by the Red Cross of Merced County, according to fire officials. The families have since found shelter with relatives or friends, according to Winton School District Superintendent Randall Heller.

He said some were forced to move out of the area. Among the displaced people were a dozen schoolchildren, he said.

About 50 or so people visited Crookham during the weekend, Heller said, to pick through the supplies, clothes and food. He said the rest of the donations will be offered to the displaced families, and any leftovers will be given to a local nonprofit.

The district has provided rides for the children who were used to crossing the street to get to school. Heller said some of the children will likely begin attending other schools closer to where they’re living.

In the meantime, he said, the displaced children seem to be doing well.

“Kids are very resilient,” he said, noting many of them went to class while their apartments burned.

“It really opens your eyes to appreciate everything you have,” he said.

Crookham faculty have set up a GoFundMe page to collect monetary donations for the children.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 5:53 PM with the headline "Donations flow in for Winton fire victims."