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Resources for Auburn Fire Victims
Placer County, Agencies, Community and Businesses offer
Published on Sep 2, 2009 - 12:14:38 PM
By: YubaNet
Community members at the Auburn fire meeting. Photo: YubaNet
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AUBURN, Calif. September 2, 2009 - The 49 Fire was declared 100% contained on Tuesday evening. Now the process of rebuilding and rehabilitating kicks into high gear. At a community meeting last night county officials, firefighters, law enforcement, utilities, businesses and community volunteers presented solutions for residents affected by the fire.
Below is a summary of services available:
The Local Fire Assistance Center is located in the Placer County Government Center (DeWitt Center), open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The center is located at 11517 F Avenue on the corner 2nd Street and F Avenue. County agencies include Health and Human Services, Building, Planning, Environmental Health, Clerk-Recorder, and Assessor. At last night's public meeting the department heads stressed the need for all affected residents to come to the center. The assessor can lower property taxes on destroyed parcels, the recorder can replace vital records at no charge, the building department will issue permits immediately at no charge.
State agencies also invited to be on site include the CAL-EMA (California’s Emergency Management Agency), the Department of Insurance, the California State Licensing Board, the Department of Public Health Vital Records, Employment Development Department, the Franchise Tax Board, Board of Equalization and the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Insurance Companies
Allstate today announced that, effective immediately, it will defer for 30 days required premium payments of policyholders located in counties directly affected by the 49 Fire.
There are a number of reasons policyholders affected by catastrophes may be unable to make their premium payments, including displacement from their home, interruptions in mail service, or other reasons that may make it difficult for policyholders to make payments during the trying days following a disaster. This deferred payment program means Allstate policyholders will not be penalized with a loss of insurance coverage if they are not able to make a payment during the deferment period.
Allstate’s deferred payment applies to new and renewal policies of qualified Allstate policyholders affected by the 49 Fire, specifically in the city of Auburn. Additionally, policyholders who continue making payments during the deferred payment period, even if it’s not the minimum due, will continue to be covered by their Allstate policies. Some policyholders enrolled in automated payment programs, like the Allstate Easy Pay Plan, will not be automatically put into the deferred payment program, unless there are insufficient funds in their accounts to cover the premium payment. In this instance, the policyholder’s payment plan will be changed to avoid overdrafts and they will be allowed to defer payment. Policyholders can access more information about deferred payments by calling 1-800-ALLSTATE, visiting the Allstate Customer Care Center online at www.allstate.com, or by contacting their local Allstate agent.
Farmers Insurance Group of Companies asks its customers suffering damage or ordered to evacuate because of the widespread wildfires in Northern and Southern (Los Angeles County areas), to immediately contact Farmers' 24 hour claims hotline at: 1-800-HelpPoint (1-800-435-7764) for immediate assistance. Foremost Insurance Company customers are asked to contact the 24-hour claims hotline at: 1-800-527-3907.
Utilities
AT&T has provided cell phones to the Red Cross for distribution to people who need them. Most of the 560 customers or so affected have service again. The rest should be restored tomorrow, except of course for those who have lost their homes. AT&T is very proud of Supervisor Rick Jones and the great job his techs have done to respond, help residents and quickly restore service.
In response to the wildfires burning in parts of California, AT&T is making available a number of services to support residential customers displaced by the fires.
As many fire victims find themselves without an established means for sending and receiving calls to family members, insurance agencies and other important contacts, AT&T will make available The Message Center (voice mail) and call forwarding services. In addition, AT&T will establish new service at a temporary or permanent location and waive the installation charge.
* Call Forwarding automatically forward calls to any phone number customers choose.
* Remote Access to Call Forwarding allows customers to dial in and direct normal home phone calls to another number from any phone.
* Message Center allows users to retrieve messages left at their home phone line from any location as well as leave a greeting telling callers their status.
Residential customers displaced by the fires can call 1-888 338-3291 Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to set up the free phone services. Customers needing assistance can leave their contact information so a AT&T service representative can call them back within 24 hours to set-up what service options would be best for each customer situation.
PG&E offers suspension of bills for customers who suffered loss or damage to their homes. PG&E crews continue to work to restore power and gas. To check on the status of power and gas, customers can contact 1-800-743-5000. Progress is being made in restoring electricity and all residents should have power restored by Wednesday afternoon. Utility crews anticipate restoring gas to customers starting Wednesday evening.
Community Organizations
At the Auburn Recreation District Park gym on Richardson Avenue in Auburn, Red Cross and other organizations are still present. Donations from the community have been plentiful. Now the effort shifts from emergency to restoration of normal life.
Natalie Pohley, the chapter head for the Auburn Community Chapter of the Hip-Hop Congress, is looking for more volunteers to assist affected families. By assigning one person to each family or individual, she hopes to build lasting relationships and help victims to rebuild their homes and lives. You can reach Natalie at (530) 368-4455 or at nataliepohley@gmail.com.
The Red Cross can be reached (530) 613-9702 both for information or for donations. If you would like to donate online, please visit SacSierraRedCross.org
Via the Auburn Chamber of Commerce:
The following organizations/clubs have created drop-off locations, created relief fund accounts, and/or are providing support to those who have been affected by the 49 Fire:
The Auburn Disaster Relief Fund
c/o Auburn Chamber of Commerce Foundation &
Community 1st Bank
649 Lincoln Way, Auburn
Accepting: Monetary Donations (Bank Account at Community 1st Bank: Reference The Auburn Disaster Relief Fund)
American Red Cross
457 Grass Valley Hwy Ste 8, Auburn
530-885-9392
www.sacsierraredcross.org
Accepting: Monetary Donations to the DISASTER RELIEF FUND
Wings Restaurant
13595 New Airport Road, Auburn: Daily 7 - 3
530-885-0428
Accepting: Clothing, Blankets & Non-Perishable Food
Salvation Army
286 Sutter, Auburn
530-889-3990
Accepting: Clothing, Blankets & Non-Perishable Food
The Orchard
7028 Orchard Circle, Penyrn (Just off 80): Daily 10 - 6
916-339-7035
www.penrynhomes.com
Accepting: Clothes, Food, Money & More
Food Closet
2985 Richardson Drive: M-F 10 - 2
530-885-1921
Accepting: Food
Parkside Nazarene Church
Richardson Drive by Chana Park
Accepting: Canned Goods & Toiletries
Hip Hop Congress Community
Natalie 530-368-4455
www.hiphopcongress.com
This group is creating a wish list for the fire victims, call for more information
Round Table Pizza
370 Elm & 2260 Grass Valley Hwy
bjohnson@siscoent.com
Wednesday, September 9th, 5pm - 8pm Fundraiser: They will donate 20% of all purchases to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund
Firefighters continue mop-up operations
Firefighters are still working within the fire perimeter, extinguishing remaining hotspots and rehabilitating suppression efforts.
For constant updates on major incidents in California and nationwide, please visit our Fire News section.
Editor's note: Details on the Auburn fire can be found here.
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Comments
Richrd stiehl
06 Sep 2009, 04:40
I am a fire victim
Richard Stiehl Displaced from
3927 Southpark pl. Auburn Ca. 95602
new mailing address is
Po Box 56 wiemar ca.95736
could really use some help
Jeff Walloch
02 Sep 2009, 15:40
Has anyone heard of a trust fund being established for the victims of the
fire??? My wife and I would like to donate money but we would rather have
it go directly to the victims (via a bank account trust fund) rather than
to a service organization. My experience with those groups has been that
the money is distributed within the organization rather than directly to
the victims....
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