Veronica Alt, president of Mountain Disaster Preparedness, reported that the local Red Cross trailer on the Idyllwild Pines property was vandalized sometime after the first of the year. The trailer is stocked with supplies designed to help the community’s medical and survival needs in times of emergency.
Because of the vandalism, Red Cross officials moved the trailer to Corona to check on what needed repairing and what was missing and needed replacement. According to Alt, quite a lot of valuable supplies were taken. The shelter is equipped to supply 75 persons including cots, blankets, comfort and medical kits, and is designed to be moved to any location on the Hill where needed and deemed appropriate by the Red Cross after a disaster hits.
Rick Foster, Red Cross shelter-trained, is not certain when or if the trailer will be returned. “It was moved on the tenth [of January],” said Foster. He thought that moving the trailer further from the road at the Idyllwild Pines site made the trailer a more attractive target, less visible in general and more open to vandalism.
