Iris Johnson escaped the Waldo Canyon fire with two pairs of shorts, two pairs of jeans and very little else in the way of clothing. The rest of her wardrobe went up in smoke.

Wednesday, she was able to replace at least a few pieces for free, thanks to a clothing drive undertaken by a woman 1,000 miles away.

Joni Mitchell, who lives in a small community near Palm Springs, Calif., collected 1,100 pounds of clothing from friends and neighbors, then shipped it to Silver Key Senior Services. Silver Key opened its thrift store after hours Wednesday and invited people affected by the fire to pick out clothing that Mitchell sent, as well as clothing and other items from its regular stock.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Johnson, as she tried on a pumpkin-colored jacket. “I hope to get something for winter. I have nothing for winter, like little sweaters and jackets.”

Mitchell was inspired to help because she knows what it’s like to lose everything to a fire. About 40 years ago, her home and business in northern Wisconsin burned to the ground, but she moved on, literally and figuratively. She and her family relocated to the Palm Springs area and got on with their lives, and memories of the fire faded.

Then, one night in late June, she turned on the TV to watch the local news and saw a story about the Waldo Canyon fire. She was mesmerized, she later told the TV station. Then, she cried.

“It moved me,” she said Wednesday. “It brought back a lot of memories that hadn’t been around in awhile.”

She recalled what it was like for her and her family to be left with few clothes, and she came up with the idea of a clothing drive. She took her pitch to TV station KESQ, which aired a story about her effort.

“The response was unbelievable,” said Mitchell, no relation to the singer/songwriter/artist with the same name. “Being in Palm Desert, California, we have quite a few affluent people living here, and the garments I got were just exceptional, I feel.”

Mitchell made it clear that she was looking for nice threads that had been cleaned and pressed. Worn-out clothing stuffed in a trash bag wouldn’t do. People got the message; the donated items bear such higher-end labels as Liz Claiborne, Ann Taylor, Coldwater Creek and Jones New York.

When it came time to box things up, she folded every item with care.

“I physically touched every garment that went to Silver Key,” said said.

One of her husband’s clients enlisted FedEx Freight to ship the 19 boxes of clothing for free — a job that would have cost $700.

Mitchell hooked up with Silver Key in a roundabout fashion. She tried going through Colorado College, where her granddaughter is a junior, but was told that the response to a clothing giveaway would be slim.

“So that took the shine out of my bubble for awhile,” Mitchell said.

She also contacted some Colorado Springs nonprofits, but said they didn’t seem to want to take responsibility for the project. Finally, she and her husband found Silver Key online.

“When she got to us — and we’re glad she did — she was so relieved we said ‘yes,’” said Lorrie Orwig, Silver Key’s Director of Resource Development. “It made no sense to turn her down. There are racks and racks of things.”

Clothing that wasn’t snapped up on Wednesday will become part of Silver Key’s regular thrift store inventory.