At Bay Planning Coalition, we have been paying close attention to the news related to the devastating wildfires that have affected the North Bay and, unfortunately, many of our members, their employees, and thousands of other California residents.
The road ahead for the region’s recovery is a long one and will require creative partnerships and policy solutions that we can only hope will prevent such a terrible tragedy from happening again.
During the fires, Bay Planning Coalition contributed to the American Red Cross. We hope you will consider joining us in supporting the recovery. You can contribute to the Red Cross’s fund for people affected by the California wildfires by visiting their website here and choosing the appropriate option from the drop down menu.
- Have you been affected by the wildfires? Please let us know if there are needs that our organization or members might be able to help address.
Many of our members are heavily involved with wildfire recovery efforts. Our members are leaders in the Bay Area business community and in their fields; many of which relate directly to regional infrastructure, engineering and construction. Here are just some of our their contributions to the recovery effort.
- As of October 25, Arcadis had donated nearly $30,000 to the American Red Cross disaster Relief Fund to support the California wildfire recovery.
- Chevron has donated $500,000 to the American Red Cross for California wildfire victims.
- Downey Brand LLP is matching donations by firm attorneys and staff, and distributing the collected funds to the Sonoma County Resilience Fund and the Napa County Community Foundation.
- Hanson Bridgett LLP has posted an article, “Surviving the Loss of Your Home,” that provides practical information to fire victims about how to approach the insurance process.
- Employees of Lind Marine, Inc., based in Petaluma, have given hundreds of volunteer hours in shelters and resource centers for fire victims.
- Marsh Risk Consulting is engaged with helping fire victims with both property insurance and FEMA claims.
- Pacific Gas and Electric Company has restored 99% of the roughly 359,000 power outages caused by the wildfires and has staff working at several Local Assistance Centers throughout the region.
- Sonoma County Water Agency played a major role in the initial disaster response and has been actively engaged in recovery efforts, including inspecting its flood control systems and developing plans for watershed recovery.
- Weiss Associates coordinated the collection of non-perishable food, toiletries, and other items at their Emeryville headquarters that were delivered to evacuation centers in the North Bay. Weiss also donated $1,000 to the American Red Cross to support the efforts of first responders.
- Is your organization involved with the recovery effort? Please submit your story so that we can help share it.
Bay Planning Coalition is committed to doing all that we can to contribute to policy solutions related to regional wildfire recovery and prevention.
Please let us know if you have ideas for how we can best do this or for panel discussion and other educational events that might benefit our members and those affected by the fires.