Disaster Relief Center Set Up At Colfax Elementary For River Fire Victims
COLFAX (CBS13) — The smoke may have cleared, but for many River Fire victims, the path forward is still hazy.
A disaster relief center opened at Colfax Elementary Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They brought in boxes of supplies and backup fans.
"Some people have lost their homes, some people are still without power, so we want to provide multiple opportunities to get the services they need," said Dave Atkinson with the Placer County Office of Emergency Services.
The idea is to help the more than 100 people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the River Fire in Placer and Nevada counties.
"Sometimes they have questions, and so we want to provide opportunities where they can talk and get those questions answered right away," said Atkinson.
They have the chance to meet one-on-one with representatives from multiple local, county and state agencies and non-profits.
"Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Insurance, we heard from our county agencies, Health and Human Services, Planning Department, Building Department," said Atkinson.
Southern Baptist is providing a bagged lunch both days. They have 2,300 churches in the state of California to help homeowners with personal property recovery.
Southern Baptist comes to these sites and sifts through what's left with the homeowners.
"We have trained volunteers that go out with the property owner and they will help them look for rings, coins, dog tags, medals, arrowheads were on last week," said a representative.
Childcare is also available on-site. Around 30 kids are being cared for—most of them are students at the school, but outside students are accepted.
"They can call the school and we do have an online form they can complete, or they can just come in and fill out paperwork mostly. If there is an emergency, an emergency contact providing them food," said John Baggett who is the principal and superintendent there.
There is a hotline for the assistance center 1-800 927-4357 and a number of other websites to help.
