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Community Corner

The North Fair Oaks Fire Response

Yesterday, a tragic early morning fire at 644 Oakside Avenue across from the Fair Oaks Elementary School demolished an apartment building and left its 26 residents (19 adults and 7 children) homeless. It also forced the evacuation of an identical apartment building next door that housed another 24 people (12 adults and 12 children) until its habitability could be assessed. Altogether, 50 people were displaced. The Fair Oaks Elementary School and its Community Resource Center became the emergency response center for those affected. Redwood City Fire, County Fire and Menlo Park Fire Departments were first on the scene to control the fire; the American Red Cross and Fair Oaks Elementary School personnel opened the cafeteria to families who had barely escaped with the shirts on their back. As the Supervisor representing District 4, I headed to the school cafeteria yesterday morning to assess the situation. The American Red Cross and Community Schools staff set up the cafeteria for the families; it had a play area for the children, Second Harvest Food Bank supplied breakfast for the families and the volunteers, and this enabled the process of connecting people with the County’s Human Services Agency (HSA) to begin. HSA and their contractor, InnVision/Shelter Network, began securing temporary housing (motel vouchers) for the 50 people who had been displaced. Psychiatric social workers from the County’s Health Services were on hand to provide counseling as well. Case management services were initiated to determine the extent of need for each family. An Americorp intern was dispatched to the nearby Target store to buy clothing and sundries for the victims. And, the Community School staff members were invaluable. Knowing the families, the students and the school staff, they accepted donations, answered questions, directed traffic, offered encouragement and support and helped coordinate the various agencies on site. Children were either in class or in the cafeteria playing while the adults were being helped through the next steps during this very chaotic and scary moment in their life. The community’s emergency response was immediate, appropriate and well-organized. I was very impressed. Transportation also had to be provided as all of the vehicles at the building were destroyed in the fire. A number of families did not have transportation to get to the motels, to their Fair Oaks Community Center appointments the following morning, or to get their children to school the following morning. SamTrans was contacted to shuttle the families and the Community School staff delivered food vouchers. Fortunately, 24 of the displaced were able to return home today. County staff and our nonprofit network will continue to help the other 26 individuals relocate and rebuild their lives. My heart goes out to all of the victims. They barely survived the fire only to realize that everything they once had was now lost. They now face the task of completely rebuilding their lives beginning with the replacement of personal identification, clothing, medicine, followed by the incredibly difficult task of trying to find another place to live—in a market that is very expensive by any measure. I want to compliment and thank the men and women who responded to this emergency—you all did an amazing job. And, I want to encourage the community to help the families through this crisis by making donations to the American Red Cross. Dollars donated to the local chapter will support this work. To donate, visit www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Your gift enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance to those affected. Contributions may also be sent to your local Red Cross chapter Bay Area Chapter 1663 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105.

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