SAN DIEGO -- The evacuations of San Diegans during the October wildfires caught the nation's attention.

Hundreds of thousands left the area to flee the fires.

Many were comparing the events to Hurricane Katrina.

Coming in to San Diego were volunteers from the National Red Cross.

10News was told that 2,200 volunteers and Red Cross administrators came in from all over the country, ready to help San Diego.

The worst of the fires were over when bulk of National Red Cross personnel began arriving on Nov. 1.

While many tourists had left and conventions were cancelled, the Red Cross still had to scramble to find rooms for their volunteers.

Once rooms were found, there was little hassle for the arriving volunteers and managers from the Red Cross.

One local hotel worker who worked during the fires said, "All they had to do is say they worked for the Red Cross."

This worker risks her employment to bring 10News this story but felt it was time the story was told. And her job allowed her access to an extensive paper trail.

"I figured out who it meant, that there were different levels of Red Cross management and support staff," the worker said.

A Red Cross form the I-Team received details how the workers that came to the area were a diverse group.

The OM, for instance, are the organization support personnel. These were the bosses or decision-makers.

The CLS/HS are the health professionals who were helping victims.

Each check-in showed when they arrived, when they left and how many nights they stayed.

The hotel worker told 10News, "The people would only stay a couple of nights."

Apparently, they had nothing to do. The I-Team suspected that it was because the local Red Cross already had 392 volunteers working.

Many of the out-of-towners left town after a short stay.

"They would leave but the rooms were still being held by the Red Cross, even though the rooms were empty," said the hotel worker.

San Diego Concierge owner Michael Hall helped find rooms for the Red Cross travel agency. He told the I-Team that as many as 22 hotels were used in the effort.

Hall's company handled 700 of the rooms. He said he did not overbook, and added, "I don't book rooms if they don't need rooms."

The hotel worker said blocks of rooms went unused and left empty from Nov. 1 to Nov. 3.

A copy of a check the I-Team acquired showed the Red Cross using INTRUST Bank in Wichita, Kan. to pay one bill.

One specific bill was in excess of $30,000 and was dated Dec. 7 with the authorized signature for the account.

"When you donate money, I'd like to think it went to the cause that I had in mind, not kind of blown away," the worker told 10News.

The I-Team whistleblower supplied an invoice that showed the payment going to Corporate Lodging in Wichita, the travel agent booking the rooms with San Diego Concierge's help.

The invoice showed room after room being billed to the Red Cross and it showed thousands of dollars mounting up.

The I-Team called the Wichita offices of Corporate Lodging to find out what had happened. They never called back.

The I-Team knew Corporate Lodging had booked blocks of rooms for the Red Cross in the past and they are one of the biggest booking agents in the country.

When a plane crashes, they are the people who hustle to provide rooms for the families of the victims.

This was Corporate Lodging's second effort in San Diego. Other local hotel sources said they are not familiar with the San Diego market.

For the hotel industry perspective 10News talked to the chairman of the San Diego County Hotel Motel Association, Bob Rausch.

"We did what we could to provide housing during a time of need," said Rausch.

He said when his staff saw the empty, paid-for rooms they called the Red Cross. The Red Cross told them to continue to hold ten empty rooms. But not everyone let the relief agency know.

Rausch admitted that not all hoteliers may have been motivated to tell the Red Cross about the paid rooms sitting empty.

The I-Team has been talking with the National Red Cross for over a week now, trying to find out what happened.

In response to the story, the National Red Cross, they said there were "an unusual number of hotel rooms purchased during the wildfire efforts."

They also added that they "should have noticed the unused rooms and acted quickly to cancel them."

The National Red Cross and the I-Team both wonder why certain hotels did not ask about the absence of customers.

There is no figure on the exact amount of dollars at issue. That is still being figured out.

10News' call was the first the Red Cross knew of the problem and it appears they are still totaling up the losses.

For the complete Red Cross response letter, click here.