Fire Safety and How You Can Help

Thank you to all who have stepped to help their neighbors. As we continue to mobilize and place volunteers our first priority is community safety.  Below you will find important information about evacuation resources and fire safety. Please heed all recommendations to evacuate as needed.

The County has established evacuation centers. Call 211 for more information about where to evacuate. Additionally, you can find info on the County website about which sites are open and which are full.

Emergency crews are working around the clock to contain the fires. We are in contact with the Red Cross, Animal Services, and other emergency response agencies to evaluate where volunteers will be of use as this emergency continues to evolve. At this moment, it is most important that we give firefighters the space to do their job effectively.

In terms of immediate needs, we have immediate needs for volunteers to help staff the emergency shelters. Learn more and sign up by following the links below.

Sign up to volunteer at an Emergency Shelter

As new volunteer needs emerge we want to have volunteers at the ready and therefore we are registering volunteers through our Fire Registry. If you would like to register your skills and availability we will stay in contact to let you know when volunteers are needed for other tasks beyond the shelters and donation centers.

Register as a Fire Response Volunteer [hr]

DONATION OF ESSENTIAL ITEMS

Please do not bring donations to shelters. Two warehouses have been established for donations: 1082 Emeline in Santa Cruz (rear of the property behind 1080 Emeline Health Clinic) and 114 Walker St., Watsonville. Sites are open 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday-Saturday.

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EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

We recognize that we are simultaneously managing the impacts of COVID-19 and again the health and safety of our community is our first priority so any volunteer mobilization efforts will be modified to address this compounding factor.The heatwave and fires have highlighted the importance of emergency preparedness and we additionally want to offer resources to our community to help you prepare. In 2020, we joined the California For All Movement in partnership with Listos California to help our community prepare for emergencies and disasters. Learn about how you can make a plan, pack a go-bag, sign up for county text alerts, and encourage others to do so with our Get Ready Esten Listos Program

Get Started Right Away- Sign Up for emergency preparedness text or what’s app class, only once a day for a week- we don’t keep your number

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FIRE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES:

Santa Cruz County Fire Resource Page

Locations of Fires and Containment Info

Latest County Road Closures

CODE RED- Text Alerts for Evacuation

View the CAL Fire Evacuation Guide

Follow CAL Fire for the Latest updates via Twitter

Equine Services

Disaster Readiness Guide for All

Location to Donate Essential Items – scroll to bottom of page

Human Services Benefits Hotline– 1-888-421-8080.