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Sadly, what started as a small, three-acre fire has now blazed into a massive and currently uncontrolled wildfire that has consumed over 75,000 acres of our beautiful neighboring Sierras as of the evening of Sunday, September 6th. Conditions continue to make for extremely dangerous fire conditions, and currently the flames are 0% contained, and communities for miles are affected by raining ash, smoke and dangerous air quality.
So many Fresnans have spent countless days and nights in the Sierras, visiting family cabins in Shaver Lake, camping at Dinkey Creek and Big Creek, exploring near Huntington Lake and sadly all of these areas have been deeply devastated by the Creek Fire, and many additional areas remain at risk.
Many Valley residents are looking for ways to help. We wanted to create a list of viable options for providing assistance to our neighboring community members as well as the firefighters and many rescue workers involved in trying to stop the blaze.
- Fresno Acura is accepting donations of bottled water, Gatorade/Powerade, packaged snacks, hand-sanitizer and hand wipes and coordinating with the Sheriff’s Department to put these items in the hands of firefighters.
- The Red Cross is currently accepting financial donations to place people immediately in hotel rooms. Unfortunately, they are unable to accept donations of goods, supplies, food or clothing due to COVID-19 restrictions, so monetary donations are most immediately helpful.
- The owners of the Subway Restaurant in Prather are feeding fire crews in the area. If you would like to donate towards these meals that the restaurant is providing at no-cost, you can do so via Venmo @CenCalSubsInc-Page or in person at the Subway restaurants located at Willow and Herndon or Bullard and First in Fresno. These stores will also accept donations of water/gatorade.
- The Clovis Rodeo Grounds at 748 Rodeo Drive in Downtown Clovis is acting as a safe holding area for livestock, and is accepting donations of hay for the animals.
- Stay up to date with local news and evacuation orders. Check on friends and family who live in the area, and ensure they are aware of evacuation orders. Tips for evacuations from the Sheriff’s Dept can be found here.
- Do not drive up to the affected area. Roads are closed, and firefighters and rescue workers are hard and work and do not need more people or vehicles to need to rescue. Do all you can to stay out of the area, and contribute to those who have already partnered with official organizations in the area to provide supplies and funds.
- If you know of someone in need of specific help or resources, check out the Creek Fire Facebook Crisis Response page. Numerous individuals are offering help with moving livestock, housing people or pets, coordinating discounts at local hotels, providing baby supplies and more.