By Stacey Kennelly
Chico Enterprise-Record (California)
CHICO, Calif. — When owner Tony DeLuca opened Fit One, he wanted it to be more than a high service athletic club he wanted it to act as a community center as well.
"I'm Italian," he said. "If you're having a bad day, I'm gonna feed you and give you a hug."
That level of thinking factored in when Paradise evacuees poured into Chico during the Humboldt Fire, and again when firefighters needed a place to rest their heads during the lightning fires.
When the Humboldt Fire got serious, DeLuca's brother, who recently became a sheriff's deputy, told him about the dangers. Then, someone from animal control called saying they were "exhausted," and asked DeLuca to help find homes for small animals.
He accepted animals for six to seven hours and called on his cell phone to find cages.
At the same time, the shelter at Neighborhood Church filled up and called to ask DeLuca if there was anywhere he knew of that people could stay.
"I'm not in the emergency services business, so stupidly, I said sure!" he said.
Around 250 evacuees went to Fit One, where they were able to use showers and enjoy air conditioning. Residents slept on cots and ate food donated by local businesses, and when the Humboldt Fire was contained, bedding was donated to the Jesus Center.
However, DeLuca regretted his decision to donate the bedding items when the lightning fires unexpectedly began and Cal Fire contacted him requesting lodging for firefighters.
That same day, firefighters began trickling into the club, and throughout the lightning fires, 100 to 150 firefighters ate and slept at the club each night.
Firefighters came straggling into the 24-hour facility smoky and exhausted around 7 p.m. each day, he said.
Staff members often offered to stay overtime to help out, and firefighters slept on cots each night.
With the help of donations and volunteer work by massage therapists, church groups, rotary and businesses such as The End Zone, Outback Steakhouse and Enrico's, no one went to bed hungry.
"No one is making a cent, and there's no hesitation to help us out," DeLuca said.
A barbecue for the firefighters was planned by Rotary for Thursday evening, but the firefighters were unexpectedly sent out of the area and toward Whiskeytown.
The unexpected move has been bittersweet for Fit One staff members, who developed relationships with the firefighters throughout their stay and became "one big family," DeLuca said.
DeLuca said no members of the club complained not once.
"I've been in clubs where the members would have had my bottom," he said. "That's one of the reasons I wanted my own club there's no one could tell me no on this. It was the right thing to do."
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