LEWISTON – Brenda Sawyer left Wednesday on a last-minute trip for warmer climes – much warmer. She’s flying to Southern California, where wildfires are raging out of control.

The 50-year-old from Gardiner was one of three volunteers from the United Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross headed west Wednesday, one of 33 Mainers making the trip. That chapter represents five counties, including Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin.

A psychologist who specializes in counseling trauma victims, Sawyer is specially equipped to provide “psychological first aid” to any of the thousands of residents left homeless after fleeing the big blaze in the past five days.

Sawyer said she likely would be assigned to a shelter or service area where victims are applying for relief. She may also visit sites where people are being driven from their homes.

“You’re on the lookout for people who may need extra attention,” she said.

Sawyer was packing light – some clothes, snacks and her professional license, she said. She will be supplied with tools and props, such as stuffed animals for children, once she arrives in San Diego, she said. She expects to stay about two weeks.

This is her third trip to a disaster area since joining the ranks of Red Cross volunteers in 2005. She helped in Texas after Hurricane Rita and in Oklahoma last summer in the wake of flooding.

Sawyer volunteered with the Red Cross because she enjoys helping people. “It’s part of my nature,” she said

The counselor said she enjoys the challenge of working in a disaster area, but also gets a thrill from working as a group to respond to an emergency.

“I like the sense of camaraderie when people pull together to help others,” she said. “You see the best of mankind.”

Her husband “is incredibly supportive,” Sawyer said. “He makes it possible for me to do this” by staying at home with the family dog.

She volunteered with the Red Cross because she enjoys helping people, she said. “It’s part of my nature.”

Laurie Levine, director of the regional chapter, said many local volunteers are available to help deliver emergency relief services.

The call went out for volunteers from the organization’s northeastern office to supply the national team, already in place in California, Levine said.

Volunteers are trained in four basic areas of service, but also have professional specialties, such as Sawyer’s mental health expertise.

Local fundraising helps train those volunteers in providing emergency services, such as mass sheltering, Levine said.

John McElrath, 34, of Lewiston, was en route to the airport in Manchester, N.H., on Wednesday. He expects to help fire victims in California find food, clothing, shelter and replacement medications, if needed. It’s the same volunteer job he performs for the local chapter in the Twin Cities when disaster strikes closer to home.

While volunteering, he gets to meet people he wouldn’t otherwise encounter in his job as an educator.

“It’s just cool,” he said.