Regional Incident Update On Wildfire Evacuations And Shelter Information For SSU In Sonoma County

Press release from Sonoma State University:

September 28, 2020

TO: Campus Community

FR: Missy Brunetta, Director of Emergency Services and Associate Risk Manager

RE: Regional Incident Update on Wildfire Evacuations and Shelter Information for SSU

Campus Community,

As you may be aware, the situation in Sonoma County due to the Glass fire and the Shady fire continues to change rapidly. Our hearts go out to the people in our region and from our Sonoma State community whose homes are being threatened by fire and who have been or are being evacuated. The county is managing the assignment of shelters. If you need immediate shelter information, please call 211 or go to the Sonoma County Emergency Evacuation Assistance website.

There is currently no threat to Sonoma State. However, air quality continues to deteriorate due to smoke conditions from the fire. We will continue to monitor air quality and will update the campus community should conditions worsen for on-campus work and classes. We encourage you all to continue to monitor this in your communities throughout the day.

Parking lots at the Green Music Center are being used as a Temporary Evacuation Point (TEP) for wildfire evacuees. The TEP is being managed and staffed by the County of Sonoma. SSU is happy to partner with our local agency to help the community in such an important way during this time.

The California Office of Emergency Services has asked Sonoma State University to establish a Referral Center to house up to 250 individuals evacuated due to the wildfires. The shelter will be in our Residential Community of Cabernet Village and will be managed by Sonoma County Emergency Management. We are proud to provide assistance to the California Office of Emergency Services and the North Bay community during this difficult time. You will find more information about evacuation assistance at the Sonoma County Emergency Evacuation Assistance website.

Employees and students may also face connectivity issues or other technological challenges due to the secondary effects of the Shady fire. Communications centers may be impacted throughout the day.

If you are an employee who has been impacted by evacuations, air quality or communications challenges, please contact your Supervisor. If you are a student who has been impacted by evacuations, air quality or communications challenges, please contact your instructors. Residential students should contact their R.A. for assistance.

The safety of the SSU community is of the utmost importance. We are working closely with the shelter managers to ensure that COVID screening and management protocols are in place. All shelter residents will be required to abide by all CDC, state, county, and campus guidelines to ensure safety during the pandemic.

We encourage you all to stay vigilant in monitoring your health in light of these circumstances. Resources for any of the above information can be found on the Emergency Services page for Current Regional Incidents and Resources. Please email emergency@sonoma.edu for any incident related questions or concerns.

We will continue to monitor conditions, and we will update the campus as we get more information.

This press release was produced by Sonoma State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.