LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Emergency Operations Center remains open in response to the Rocky fire, and officials at the center have issued an update on the county's efforts and how people can assist the recovery.
The Lake County Board of Supervisors met on Tuesday and adopted a resolution confirming the existence of a local emergency proclaimed by County Administrative Officer and Director of Emergency Services Matt Perry on July 30, as Lake County News has reported.
The proclamation of a local emergency is necessary for the County to seek State and Federal recovery assistance.
“The health and safety of our residents continues to be our top priority. County officials remain dedicated to providing emergency and other necessary services as we recover from this incident together,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Anthony Farrington. “We appreciate the excellent work of Cal Fire and the dozens of fire agencies working to contain the fire, and to also thank the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, American Red Cross and other organizations that continue to provide outstanding support to our community.”
Thousands of residents remained under mandatory evacuation orders or advisory orders on Thursday.
The American Red Cross continues to operate two official shelters at Middletown High School, 20932 Big Canyon Road, and Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.
The Community Disaster Response Team of Sebastopol is operating a shelter at Upper Lake Middle School, 725 Old Lucerne Road in Upper Lake.
Pets of displaced residents may be taken to Lake County Social Services located at 15975 Anderson Ranch Parkway in Lower Lake. Animal Control will work to find appropriate resources.
Residents will be notified of evacuations through a variety of ways, including 911 reverse telephonic messaging, personal door-to-door notification, Nixle alerts or official social media (Lake County OES on Facebook or @lakecountyoes on Twitter). Lake County residents can sign up for Nixle alerts by texting their zip code to 888777, or online at www.nixle.com .
Authorities have cautioned the community about donating to a variety of Rocky fire-related Go Fund Me accounts and other online fundraisers that have emerged in the days since the fire began and which are not linked to registered nonprofits.
Donations can be made to the American Red Cross through its Web site at http://www.redcross.org/support ; that site also includes other ways people can help, including volunteering, giving blood or hosting classes.
Mendo Lake Credit Union also is accepting financial donations on behalf of North Coast Opportunities to assist with fire recovery efforts.
Checks may be made out to Rocky Fire or North Coast Opportunities and dropped off or mailed to the following Mendo Lake Credit Union branch locations:
• 14866 Olympic Drive in Clearlake, CA 95422;
• 953 11th Street in Lakeport, CA 95453;
• 526 S State Street in Ukiah, CA 94582.
Update on county facilities
Officials also reported on the current status of some of the county's facilities and services that have been impacted by the fire.
The Eastlake Landfill and Garbage Service: Eastlake Landfill and its recycling yard are currently open to the public as is Quackenbush Resource Recovery facility which is adjacent to the landfill. Landfill hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily. However, non-customers should not go to the facility or parking along its access road (Davis Street) since it could block access and interfere with responders who are staging at the facility. Curbside service remains uninterrupted for county customers at this time, unless access is blocked in mandatory areas. The Lakeport transfer station, operated by Lake County Waste Solution, also is operating on its current hours of Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Sunday.
Parks: All county parks operated by Public Services are open with the exception of Mt. Konocti County Park. That park is closed to all traffic and hikers currently in light of the current limited fire resources. The Middletown Pool season has been extended in light of the postponement of the start date of the Middletown School District school year. The pool will be open Wednesday through Sunday through Aug. 16 from noon until 5 p.m. Entry passes for children are available at Hardester’s Store. After the regular season closing date, the pool will continue to be open Saturdays and Sundays through Sunday, Sept. 6.
Highlands Spring Park, which is operated by Lake County Public Works, was closed last week to the public at the request of Supervisor Rob Brown and the Emergency Operations Center. The park will reopen when advised by the Emergency Operations Center that it is safe to do so.
Other information
The Emergency Operations Center also offered the following resources and contacts for information.
Updates on evacuations and road closures can be found at the Cal Fire Web site at http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1161 .
Residents are advised to educate themselves about wildfire preparedness by visiting http://www.readyforwildfire.org/ .
The Lake County Office of Emergency Services has a prerecorded hotline with updates available at 707-263-2360.
The Lake County Office of Emergency Services also is posting the most up-to-date, verified information on its Facebook page and on its Twitter account, @LAKECOUNTYOES.
Lake County Emergency Operations Center offers updates on county Rocky fire efforts, where to donate
- Lake County News reports
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