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Chicago-area carpenter builds crosses to honor Camp Fire victims

The crosses have each victim's name, age, and a heart made by elementary school children from Aurora.

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PARADISE, Calif. — For more than two decades, Greg Zanis, Founder of Crosses for Losses, has been making wooden crosses to honor and remember victims of tragedies.

Now, the man from Illinois who has traveled all over the country, has made his way to Paradise to pay his respects to the victims of the Camp Fire.

"Everybody who’s lost somebody gets represented equally here," Zanis said. "We know how important this is going to be for those families. That’s why I’m doing this – for them."

Zanis hugged Camp Fire survivors who stopped by to see the crosses at the intersection of Skyway and Skyway Road. 

The crosses have each victim's name, age, and a heart made by elementary school children from Aurora.

"They wrote something on the back of each heart from our city," Zanis explained. "Just a way to show that even the kids care."

Zanis told ABC10 he usually includes photos of the victims, but he wasn't able to find one for each person. Instead, he made little figures to represent the people who died in the massive fire.

The retired carpenter says he'll continue to show support for victims' families for as long as he lives.

"We’re going to keep showing you our love from around the country," Zanis said.

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ABC10 Presents Paradise’s Superhero: "Grandpa" is what James calls Jimmy, his best friend and roommate of roughly 40 years. Jimmy is 86-years-old, and when the fire approached their mobile home it was up to James to figure out how to get the two of them out.






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