The Red Cross set up an evacuation shelter at the Karuk Wellness Center in Yreka, CA in mid-August to house and care for a small group of people who had nowhere to go when a wildfire broke out nearby.
The shelter remained open for three weeks, staffed by at least 16 Red Cross volunteers who provided shelter, meals, comfort and care at a time when these residents had nowhere to go.
Angie Irmer served as shelter manager at the site while also overseeing sheltering operations for other wildfires in our Northern California Chapter.
“What I saw the most was the community coming together for the families in need,” she said. “The tribe is always very generous in letting us open a shelter there. They receive us with open arms and have been very gracious.”
While the Red Cross always stands ready to help those displaced by natural disasters such as wildfires, the organization is simultaneously educating communities across the Northern California Chapter and the entire California Gold Country Region, about how to prepare for and escape home fires, as well.
Today is Northstate Giving Tuesday, a day you can support our Home Fire Campaign in Lassen, Modoc, Shasta and Siskiyou counties with a financial contribution, to ensure we continue to provide education and resources to your neighbors to ensure they know how to prepare for, and escape, a home fire, and can receive care from the Red Cross once a home fire occurs.
“Supporting the Home Fire Campaign is important to provide critical fire prevention information to the communities we serve,” Irmer said.
Did you know that you have just two minutes to escape a home fire — which is the nation’s most frequent disaster?
On average:
- 7 people die every day from a home fire, most impacting children and the elderly
- More than 30 people suffer injuries from home fires every day
- More than $7 billion in property damage occurs from home fires every year
Your support of the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign will help ensure that lives are saved in the event of a home fire.
That’s why the American Red Cross and our partners are preparing families to act quickly through our Home Fire Campaign. We have already made a lifesaving difference, achieving our initial goals of installing 2.5 million free smoke alarms and helping to make 1 million households safer in at-risk communities. But home fires remain a daily threat, so the Home Fire Campaign continues across our region, and across the country.
Make your donation here!
Gold Country News and Notes 