Devastating Tubbs Fire inspires woman to give back
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KRON) — Every year, the Red Cross of Northern California awards a Humanitarian of the Year. This year, it went to Betsy Witthohn, who started volunteering with the Red Cross in 2017. KRON 4's Rob Nesbitt visited Witthohn at her home in Santa Rosa to see what inspired her to give back.
When you talk with a Santa Rosa resident who was living in the city in 2017, they'll tell you about their memories of the Tubbs Fire. At the time, it was the most destructive wildfire in California history and came within feet of Witthohn's front door.
'Our street was full of people evacuating with their trailers, and it was like, oh my god, is it going to come here,' Witthohn said.
The flames spared her property, but that wasn't the case for everyone. The Tubbs Fire destroyed more than 5,000 homes and killed 22 people.
In the wake of destruction, Witthohn took notice of the volunteers who had stepped in to help her community, specifically the American Red Cross. When she saw an ad that the organization was seeking more volunteers, she decided to step up.
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'You can come with the skills that you come with from your life experience,' Witthohn said, 'and believe me, there's people from all different life experiences that volunteer for Red Cross.'
It's been eight years since she took that leap of faith and became a Red Cross volunteer, not realizing the number of people she would help.
Witthohn traveled to Florida to help families during the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. It's where she met Richard Goldfarb, the director of the National Incident Command Team for Red Cross of Northern California. Goldfarb quickly realized the qualities of curiosity that make Witthohn the perfect person to help others in need.
'She's always asking questions, she's always trying to understand, and I think her entire perspective of how she addresses a problem and addresses how to build a team and lead a team comes from a place of humility,' Goldfarb said.
Witthohn has been deployed to more than 20 major disasters, including hurricanes, typhoons, floods and the disaster that inspired her to help: wildfires. She was there after the Lahaina Fire destroyed parts of Maui in Hawaii, and, most recently, in Southern California where the Palisades and Eaton Fires burned through more than 23,000 acres.
'From Red Cross' perspective we are like second responders after the fire,' Witthohn said. 'We're there to listen to people's stories and to be able to provide financial assistance to those who are eligible and you're bringing hope to folks on what could be the very worst day of their lives.'
She took her 30-year career as a marketing executive and put it to good use, volunteering in disaster response, leadership development and client care. Work that has become a family affair with her husband Andy Witthohn and son Denny Sigmon, who also both work as Red Cross volunteers.
Her family was there at the 30th Anniversary Red Cross Gala in San Francisco, where Betsy was honored as the 2025 Red Cross Humanitarian Volunteer of the Year.
'You know I've learned that there's humanitarians in all of us and that the gift you can give someone by listening and giving them hope is a gift that's priceless,' Witthohn said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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