San Rafael, CA (4:00PM) – New data allowing residents to confirm their ability to return to their homes and fire evacuation zones, coupled with news of a Local Assistance Center in Santa Rosa, prompted nearly all evacuees residing at the temporary evacuation shelter within Marin Center Exhibit Hall to check-out this morning.
Last night, 206 people sought shelter at the Marin Center shelter in San Rafael. By 12:00pm today, the number of evacuees in the building had dropped to just 3 people. By 3:00pm, the shelter was empty. With other viable shelter resources available in Marin, County officials have closed shelter operations at Marin Center Exhibit Hall.
American Red Cross has agreed to keep its temporary evacuation shelter located at The Seminary at Strawberry (201 Seminary Drive in Mill Valley) open and serve as the primary wildfire evacuation shelter in Marin County. The shelter, which opened on Saturday, reported housing 20 evacuees as of 3:45pm today.
EVACUEES WITH ANIMALS:
A previous news release incorrectly reported The Seminary at Strawberry shelter allowed pets. The Red Cross confirmed that evacuees cannot bring pets to this location. Nearby shelter locations that accept pets include:
- Finley Hall at Sonoma County Fairgrounds: 1650 Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa
- Petaluma Veteran's Memorial Building: 1049 Petaluma Blvd. S. in Petaluma
DONATIONS AND VOLUNTEERISM:
No donations or volunteers are needed at the Seminary shelter site. American Red Cross is fully staffed and has resources in place to support this shelter. There is no space to accommodate donations. Please do not bring donations to the shelter or self-deploy to Seminary as a volunteer.
STAY CONNECTED:
For the latest updates on County of Marin’s response to the Napa and Sonoma fires, follow us on twitter at @MarinGov, or visit the County’s website at marincounty.org/News. In addition, Marin residents can sign up for emergency alerts from the County for future disasters and emergencies at AlertMarin.org.
* * * UPDATE: 10/17/17 - 5:30PM * * *
Our previous news release did not include the fact that evacuees were informed of the transition on Saturday night. Here are more details:
On Saturday night, County staff informed evacuees of its plan to combine the temporary evacuation shelter with the American Red Cross shelter in Mill Valley in anticipation of large numbers of evacuees returning to the Sonoma County area. Evacuees were given the opportunity to stay in Marin if they were still under evacuation orders or could not return home for other reasons. These evacuees were provided complimentary transportation to the Seminary shelter and offered ongoing assistance from County case managers and Marin Humane staff.