Photo of crews working on the Mountain Fire by Ilana Levinsky.

It has been quite a week! The election results were nearly immediately overshadowed by the quick moving Mountain Fire that has devastated our community. As of today, the fire has burned 20,640 acres and is 26% contained. More than 2,000 firefighters are still actively working on hotspots and at the peak of the fire, we had more than 350 engines of mutual aid from all over the state. While many of the evacuation orders have been lifted, some are still in place. More than 100 homes have been lost with several dozen more properties damaged. More details from the VC Star here.

 

The only bright spot in the news of the fires has been watching our incredible community step up to offer support, resources and on-the-ground help. This newsletter is to consolidate some of those resources and let you know where you can best serve. As these will be changing, we will keep our webpage (linked here) updated as new information comes in. 

 

Please forward this to anyone you know who might want to volunteer, donate or who needs support after loss. 

 

By the way, I'm Tami Chu, publisher. If this is your first time seeing us in your inbox, welcome; I appreciate every reader! Please feel free to hit reply on this email if you want to connect with me, and if you received this from a friend, feel free to subscribe to our regular newsletter. 

 

 

Safety First

We cannot stress enough the importance of awareness. If you have not already, please consider downloading the Watch Duty app and set up notifications for Ventura County. It is an excellent resource for local fires and is often updated before the emergency websites. 

 

WATER: If you are in the area near where the fire burned, please check with your water district to check on the safety of your water. Click on the photo below for the map of water districts. 

Here are the links to the above water districts:

 

And below, some information about how to handle unsafe water:

RESOURCES AFTER LOSS

We strongly urge anyone affected by the Mountain Fire to fill out the form on the VC United Way 211 website to get immediate support. More resources are available here.

 

Assistance from Local Love Project can be found here.

 

Please look into joining the Facebook group Mountain Fire Resources and Housing here. The admins are working hard to curate and consolidate resources there. 

 

Facebook Group Ventura County Fire Recovery Mentorship is a private group for people who have had partial or full property loss made up of Thomas and Woolsey Fire survivors. 

 

Food Share has a food distribution on Wednesday. See resources here. 

 

Dog and Cat Food available at the Human Society

600 Aviation Dr., Camarillo 

(805) 388-4341

 

The Local Love Project will be hosting pop up distributions in affected areas over the next several weeks. Verified Mountain Fire impacted individuals will be able to come in a choose needed items.

 

SLATE will host an emergency food bank for individuals and families affected by the fire this Monday from 2:00 pm in the SLATE parking lot. (Until supplies last.)

4850 Verdugo Way, Camarillo 

Insurance Questions: United Policyholders 501c(3) will be taking part in the resource center and offering group meetings to discuss insurance questions for those affected by disaster.

Sifters made to help homeowners by Upper Ojai Relief. If you need help, please email  upperojairelieforg@gmail.com.

DONATIONS

Donation locations have popped up all over the county. While it is heartwarming to see the desire of many to donate for immediate needs, please consider how your donations will be handled and used before dropping off piles of used clothing. The Local Love Project put together a great resource for deciding what to donate and making those donations count here.

VOLUNTEERING

Upper Ojai Relief is actively looking for volunteers.

The Local Love Project is accepting volunteers.

United Way Ventura County Volunteers sign up here.