Don O’Neill takes looting in Chelan personal

Families in the path of wildfires charring the Chelan area now have one more thing to worry about: Looters.

The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office reports that looters are combing through neighborhoods left empty as wildfires approach.

Related: Wildfire forces evacuation of two Washington towns

“If you are out there doing that, we are going to catch ya,” said Rich Magnussen with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office. “The community up here is very aware. We are getting lots of reports on vehicle descriptions, and people that look like they are in an area for the wrong reasons. We are following up on all those and we are going to catch them.”

The news came personally to KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neill, who has experienced looting firsthand.

“I am so mad right now that there are people whose homes are burning to the ground and yet there are people in Chelan that are going to loot,” Don said. “I feel very strongly about this. I feel very emotional about this.”

“Come on, if people survived the fire, can they at least survive the looters?” he said.

Co-host Ron Upshaw understands Don’s anger.

“I would be OK if someone wanted to protect their property,” Ron said, adding it’s not a good idea to get violent. “It’s the worst of the worst people that are preying on folks that are in harm’s way.”

Looting is a subject Don knows well. He lost a lot during Hurricane Katrina, including during the aftermath.

“The thing that was disgusting to me, was when I went into a Walmart there, and there were police officers in there that were looting the store and not stopping the looters,” Don said.

He recalled that after the hurricane, people showed up with trucks and trailers with signs implying that they were disaster relief. But it was a ruse. The trucks were loaded up with possessions from empty homes.

“And here they came from all over the country and it looked like they were coming to help: professional looters,” Don recalled. “They had pickup trucks, with lights on top and trailers that said ‘Disaster Relief’ and they knew people in New Orleans wouldn’t be home for months.”

“They broke into my house; there were five units where I lived,” he said. “They broke into every single unit, they went through all our drawers, they went through all our belongings, all our clothes and I’m like, ‘Really? I survived a hurricane and a flood, but I can’t survive the looters.'”

Don likened the Katrina experience to families in Chelan, many of whom have fled their homes, leaving them empty, hoping that the wildfires pass them by.

“You’re sitting in a shelter, and all of a sudden you have to move the shelter because the fire is coming your way. And now the fire is coming toward that shelter, so you have to move to where you were just at,” Don said. “And in the meantime you’re thinking ‘There are some jack wagons out there right now going through my house; looting my house.'”

“And looters don’t care,” he added. “They may be looking for electronics, but along the way, if they end up breaking a picture of grandma or take some ashes they didn’t intend to take, that doesn’t bother them at all.”

Despite his emotions, Don did note that not all people amid natural disasters resort to bad behavior.

“You see the very best of people,” he said. “I saw a young man come from Texas; he brought his boat and saved 111 people. He was 19 years old and he said ‘Well, if the United States government isn’t going to show up, I’m going to show up.'”

Meanwhile, the entire town of Conconully in Okanogan County has been evacuated. Approximately 200 people received an order to leave their homes as flames approached the area.

About 1,000 firefighters are tackling the blazes throughout the region. Dozens of homes have fallen victim to the flames, and many more remain in the pathway of wildfires. Conditions are expected to remain favorable for the fires, with winds and high temperatures moving the flames across the eastern landscape.