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 While
we were very fortunate that the Zaca Fire did not cross the
mountains into Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito or Carpinteria,
our Chapter worked hard to be ready to respond to this
potentially catastrophic event. As the wildfire gained momentum,
County officials approached us and asked if we were prepared to
play a key role in the evacuation of as many as 200,000 people
in South County and to be ready to shelter up to 20,000
residents. We rose to the challenge!
Here are just a few of the steps we took to prepare. We:
- Opened our own Disaster Operations Center at our
headquarters that was staffed at least 12 hours a day with
Disaster Volunteers helping to chart the course of the fire
and the Red Cross emergency response preparations.
- Brought in 10 teams of four Red Cross Disaster Shelter
Volunteers each on stand-by from Oregon, California,
Washington State, Colorado, and other states.
- Requested five Emergency Response Vehicles (ERVs) with
two Red Cross Volunteers per ERV from sister chapters in
California to handle mass feeding.
- Moved 1,000 cots, blankets and comfort kits to Santa
Barbara on four semi-trailer trucks from the Red Cross
Disaster Field Supply Cache in Reno.
- Taught classes to 190 Red Cross Volunteers – to train
them in how we respond to a disaster. These classes
included: Introduction to Disaster Services, Emergency
Shelter Logistics, Client Services/Casework, Disaster
Assessment, and Mass Care.
- Opened two Red Cross Emergency Shelters – Santa Ynez
High School (in July when the Zaca Fire began) and Dos
Pueblos High School (most recently in response to the
Evacuation Warning for residents of Paradise Road).
- Made contingency plans to shelter and feed up to 20,000
evacuees from Santa Barbara County.
 The
total cost of this undertaking was $75,000. Because we are not a
governmental agency, we do not receive any money from local,
state or federal governmental agencies.
It is our responsibility to turn to the community we have
pledged to serve and ask for your support in keeping Santa
Barbara County safe and prepared. To date, we have raised close
to $35,000 towards these unbudgeted Zaca Fire expenditures. We
continue to seek funds from individuals, foundations, businesses
and you, the community we serve, to help cover the cost of these
and future emergency responses and disaster efforts. We will
continue to help Santa Barbara County be even more prepared
before a disaster strikes.
If you would like to help support your American Red Cross,
Santa Barbara County Chapter, please send in your contribution
in the remittance envelope attached to this newsletter, or call
Peter Wright, Director of Public Support, at 687-1331, ext. 112
or visit www.sbredcross.org. We are so grateful for your ongoing
assistance.
Richard C. “Rich” Christensen
Chair of the Board
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