Couple donates everything in their house to firefighters whose homes were destroyed by Camp Fire: 'We'll start over; they're starting over'

A California couple has donated everything in their house to firefighters who’ve lost their homes in the Camp Fire.

Kim Ringeisen and his wife, Annette, are moving from Gilroy, Calif., to North Carolina. Instead of taking everything with them, they’re donating a 26-foot storage truck’s worth of household items to firefighters and families impacted by the devastating wildfire. The truck is packed with everything from chairs to spices to bikes to electronics.

Kim Ringeisen has 15 years of search-and-rescue experience. He helped in Paradise for more than a week in the wake of the fire, according to Sacramento, Calif., news station KCRA. He also served in the U.S. Army for 10 years.

“I was searching about 100 homes in Paradise,” Ringeisen told KCRA. “I’m also a combat veteran, but this was unimaginable.”

Still, he felt compelled to do more. “I was looking for a firefighter with a family I could donate to,” Ringeisen said. He stumbled upon an article about Jason Hawkins, a firefighter whose home was destroyed by Camp Fire, and realized what he had to do: help people like Hawkins “put this behind them and move forward.”

“We decided to donate all of our household goods to the firefighters,” Ringeisen told KCRA.

So, he rented a 26-foot truck and loaded it up with everything in his house.

“We didn’t lose our sentimental things. We didn’t lose something to a fire very abruptly,” he explained to KCRA. “So, I think it’s good if we can donate everything we have. We’ll start over; they’re starting over. So, I think it’s going to be a good thing, a good memory for us in how we helped.”

His wife, Annette, is a doll-maker and chipped in by donating her own creations. “There is not much I can do, but I decided to donate all dolls, toys, and knitted items that were in the store to the families that were left with nothing,” she wrote on Instagram.

According to KCRA, their donations will help dozens of firefighters and families who lost their homes.

The Ringeisens did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• After a 4-year-old lost his beloved dinosaur collection in wildfire, community donates toys

• ‘We’re all here together’: California couple refuse to let wildfire take away their wedding day

• Couple miraculously finds 14-year-old coin from their honeymoon after Camp Fire destroys their home

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