Three Santa Monica Red Cross Disaster Volunteers Deployed to Wildfires
Three Santa Monica Red Cross Disaster Volunteers deployed to
Station and San Bernardino Wildfires
News Release UPDATE Wed. Sept. 2
Three members of the Santa Monica Red Cross disaster team have been deployed
to provide disaster assistance relief at two Southern California wildfires -
the Station fire above Altadena and the Morris fires in the Riverside/
San Bernardino area.
Eric
Strunz and John Moesta have been deployed to the Riverside/San Bernardino area
to assist in fire relief operations and will most likely be assigned to a Red
Cross evacuation shelter. Retno Salistijo was deployed today to "fire operation
headquarters" at the Los Angeles chapter of the American Red Cross to assist in
staffing.
Ten other Santa Monica volunteers are standing by for
deployment in Red Cross operations at fire operation headquarters or at the
Station and Morris fires. Strunz and Moesta are AmericCorps volunteers
assigned to the Santa Monica Red Cross while Salistijo is a chapter volunteer
who works in the chapter's disaster services department.
Santa Monica
volunteers could be deployed as individuals or in smaller teams depending on the
staffing needs in the field and be assigned to different operational areas.
Other volunteers may be deployed depending on staffing needs.
The
various Red Cross chapters have a mutual aide agreement on assisting each other
when there is a disaster. The lead chapters for the Station fire are Glendale,
Los Angeles, San Gabriel Valley (Pasadena) and Antelope Valley chapters. Any of
these chapters can call for support from other chapters. The lead chapter for
staffing this event is the Greater Los Angeles Chapter who is coordinating
relief activities and staffing assignments for the various shelters.
Shifts for shelter volunteers in the field will run from 7-a..m.
to 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. to 7 am.
Headquarters shifts will run from 7 am to 7
p.m. to 7 a.m.
The fire is not expected to be contained until
Tuesday, September 8. The Station Fire continues to burn within the Angeles
National Forest and near surrounding foothill communities of La
Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton, Soledad Canyon, Pasadena and Glendale.
140,000 acres have been burned (Noon 9-2-09). Steep terrain, decadent old growth
brush and hot dry weather are factors that drive fire activity. Firefighters are
working to build fire line and protect structures within areas affected by the
fire.
Authorities have lifted mandatory evacuation orders for
nearly 3,000 homes in San Bernardino County as they get a handle on two
wildfires.. A state fire spokesman said Wednesday residents of unincorporated
Oak Glen and the Yucaipa area were being allowed home as evacuations were scaled
back from mandatory to recommended.
The 860-acre fire that forced the evacuation of unincorporated
Oak Glen was 70 percent contained and the fire in neighboring Yucaipa was 75
percent contained after burning overt 1,000 acres of grass and brush.
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