There are over a dozen fires raging through California right now. Most of them are in and around where my sister lives – Northern California. They have not had to evacuate yet, but with her having asthma and small kids, the tension is high.
She’s not alone, though. There are a ton of people sitting on the edge of evacuation zones struggling with ash, heat, and more.
Thousands of people have evacuated, lost their homes, or worse. Right now, the death toll sits in the mid-20s with nearly 300 people missing.
Here’s how to help if you’re in the area:
- You can open your home for free via Airbnb. This is currently open through the 30th, but I’ll bet it gets extended.
- You can donate supplies and clothing to Love on Haight in SF. Tutto Capelli Salon, 1234 Go Records,
- Donate to the North Bay Fire Relief fund at Redwood Credit Union locations
- Volunteer! You can register at the Sonoma Community Center (open from 9-5 daily). You can also register online at CVNL for Marin and Napa.
- Sonoma County Animal Services needs food and supplies. Napa Community Animal Response Team needs help with sheltering and moving animals. Hop Along and Second Chance Animal Rescue needs foster pet parents and donations.
- Here are evacuation centers and other locations you can drop off supplies to:
- Yuba-Sutter Fairgrounds Evacuation Center – 442 Franklin Avenue, Yuba City
- Veterans Memorial Building and Hall – 1351 Maple Avenue, Santa Rosa
- Petaluma Community Center – 320 N. McDowell Boulevard, Petaluma
- Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds – 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma
- Napa Valley College Gym – 2277 Napa Vallejo Highway, Napa
- Ramekins Culinary School and Inn – 450 W. Spain Street, Sonoma
- Sonoma Valley High School – 20000 Broadway, Sonoma
- Sonoma County Animal Services – 1247 Century Ct, Santa Rosa
- RYSE Center – 205 41st Street @ MacDonald, Richmond
- Salute E Vita Restaurante – 1900 Esplanade Dr, Richmond
- Seaport Storage Center – 1703 E. Bayshore Road, Redwood City
If you’re remote, like me, or can’t venture out due to the ash and smoke, you can still donate:
- Napa and Sonoma County Fire Relief GoFundMe
- Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund
- Donate to the Humane Societies of Sonoma, Napa, Yuba-Sutter, Marin, and Silicon Valley (who has taken in many animals from the area). You can also donate to Sonoma County Animal Services. Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch in Napa needs donations to care for the animals they’ve brought in, not only form the fires but from hurricane-torn regions as well. Wine Country Animal Lovers and Rocket Dog Rescue are also seeking donations for caring for animals.
- The Sonoma County Resilience Fund will help with the rebuilding efforts
- Donate to the United Way of the Wine Country
- #BayAreaUnite for California Fire Relief (YouCaring)
- The California Fire Foundation helps provide victims with gift cards for basics.
- You can find other individual funds to donate to on GoFundMe and YouCaring.
Are you affected by the wildfires in Northern California? Here are some of the resources in the area offering shelter, food, and other supplies. Make sure to keep up with evacuation orders in your area.
Shelter
- Check out Airbnb’s open home program. It’s free and people in the area are opening up their homes to help.
- Official shelters
- Cloverdale
- Cloverdale Citrus Fair – 1 Citrus Fair Dr.
- Healdsburg
- Healdsburg Community Center – 1157 Healdsburg Ave.
- Petaluma
- Casa Grande High School – 333 Casa Grande Rd.
- Cavanaugh Youth Center – 426 8th St.
- Church of Christ – 370 Sonoma Mountain Parkway
- 1st Presbyterian Church – 939 B. St.
- New Life Church – 1310 Clegg St.
- Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds – 175 Fairgrounds Dr.
- Veterans Memorial Hall – 1094 Petaluma Blvd. S.
- Santa Rosa
- Cook Middle School – 2480 Sebastopol Rd.
- Elsie Allen High School – 599 Bellevue Ave.
- Finley Community Center – 2060 W. College Ave.
- Sonoma County Fairgrounds Pavillion – 1350 Bennett Valley Rd.
- St. Eugene’s Cathedral School/Gym – 300 Farmers Ln.
- Sebastopol
- Analy High School – 6950 Analy Ave.
- Hessel Church – 5060 Hessel Ave.
- St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church – 500 Robinson Rd.
- Rohnert Park
- Burton Recreation Center/RP Community Center – 5401 Snyder Ln.
- Sally Tomatoes – 1100 Valley House Dr.
- Technology Middle School – 7165 Burton Ave
- Waldo Rohnert Elementary School – 550 Bonnie Ave.
- Sonoma
- Adele Harrison Middle School – 1150 Broadway
- Sonoma Raceway – 29355 Arnold Dr.
- Sonoma Valley High School – 20000 Broadway
- Sonoma Veterans Building – 126 1st St. West
- Windsor
- Windsor High School – 8695 Windsor Rd.
- American Canyon
- American Canyon High School – 3000 Newell Dr.
- Calistoga
- Calistoga Fairgrounds – 1435 N. Oak St.
- Napa
- Crosswalk Community Church – 2590 First St.
- Napa Valley College Gym – 2277 Napa Vallejo Highway
- Fairfield
- Alan Witt Sports Complex – 1741 W. Texas St.
- Solano Community College – 4000 Suisun Valley Rd.
- Cloverdale
Restaurants
- Amy’s Drive Thru (58 Golf Course Dr. W, Rohnert Park) is offering free meals to those evacuated.
- Sauced BBQ Restaurant (151 Petaluma Blvd S Suite 129, Petaluma) serves free food from 9-4 every few days for victims and offers a place to rest and view TV.
- Better Homes and Gardens (186 Main St., Sebastopol) will give you a cup of coffee and wifi and you can charge your phone.
Wifi and Computer Use
- FREE Internet/Comcast/Xfinity: Removed restrictions and opened their WiFi hotspots for all to use through Fri. 10/13 Log in as “Guest.”
- Copperfield’s Books (140 Kentucky St, Petaluma): Free wifi, allows dogs, water, stickers & crayons for children.
- Mystic Theatre/McNears/The Roaring Donkey (23 Petaluma Blvd. North, Petaluma): Offering laptops for fire victims to use if they need to get a hold of their financial institutions or family. They have wifi and chargers, too. Ask for Sierra Bradley.
For pets and animals
- Strong’s Second Chance Ranch (771 Liberty Rd, Petaluma) is offering to home horses, can message on Facebook.
- Chanslor Ranch (2660 CA-1, Bodega Bay) – Offering free beds and campsite. Kid and pet- friendly.
- Sonoma Humane Society (5345 Highway 12 West, Santa Rosa) – Taking in animals for boarding, lost & found animals. No cost vet treatment for burn victims, owned or stray animals affected by fires. Open 8-5 daily.
- Unleashed Dog Training (301 2nd St, Petaluma) is boarding and open if you need a place to hang. Call at 707.763.9882
- Marin Humane Society (171 Bel Marin Keys Blvd, Novato) is offering free boarding.
- Misc animal issues: Anyone encountering animal-related issues can call 707-565-4406. This number will be available 24/7 until further notice. Donations can also be made through this line. Please be prepared to share information about the number of animals, type of animals, address and location for the animals, and any information about the families associated with the animals, if known.
Other
- Petaluma Swim Center (900 E Washington St, Petaluma) is offering free showers for victims with soap, shampoo and towels provided. Check their FB page for times and dates.
- Synergy Health Club (1201 Redwood Way, Petaluma) is offering free showers plus towels to those in need. Also, a place to relax with couches and TV.
- Adventure Recreation Center (2200 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma) is open limited hours for kids to play out of the smoke. Free for fire victims, and they have coffee. Proceeds from others will be donated to relief efforts.
- Ethical Clothing (122 Kentucky St., Petaluma) has free clothing for those in need. For non-evacuees, they will also sell newly donated items for $25 a piece and donate the money. Check their FB page for hours.
- Yoga Hell (1484 Petaluma Blvd N., Petaluma) is offering free yoga classes and showers.
- If you’re affected by the Tubbs fire, there is a FB group for you. Facebook also has a community help section for those dealing with the fires, including those willing to volunteer.
Originally posted on Oct. 12. Updated Oct. 12.