Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "redcross"

Budget cuts impact resources for major hazmat incident in South Sacramento

2011-07-07T01:43:59Z

Sacramento, CA | A level 3 Hazmat situation shuts down a large industrial area in South Sacramento. Budget weakend hazmat team has to reach out with unusual mutual aid requests.

Wednesday morning, the Sacramento City Fire Department was called to Mike and Sons Inc, in the 8500 block of Elder Creek Road, for a commercial trailer fire. When firefighters arrived “they realized the doors were shut and there was a very pungent odor; so they turned this into a level three hazmat which is the highest level of hazmat response that we have”, Niko King, Assistant Chief for Sacramento City Fire Department stated.

As things progressed, they contacted the shipper and the property owner discovering that there were over forty household products in the trailer, King stated. “For some unknown reason, something happened in there and there was a chemical reaction taking place.”

Evacuations began immediately. King stated that as a result of the off-gassing of the product and wind direction, over fifty-five business were evacuated which equated to 520 people. Reverse 911 was utilized to assist with the evacuations. Traffic was backed up all the way down Young Creek Drive as area workers vacated the industrial park. King stated that the evacuation was in place for about four hours. King also stated that a seven digit hotline was put in place to update evacuees and let them know when they could return to their businesses.

One person, who reportedly inhaled a good amount of the vapors, was transported to the hospital via paramedics.

Large fire suppression lines were put in place in the event they had to fight fire, and measures were taken to protect storm drains from potential contaminated water runoff as a result of firefighting efforts.

“What’s unique about this, Sacramento Fire department just experienced some budget cuts; it cut our hazmat team right in half,” King stated sternly. “…so, we had mutual aid resources from Metro Fire, Hazmat 109 come in. And what was really unique, we had to reach out and get Roseville’s hazmat team to come into the City of Sacramento to assist in mitigating this incident.”

It was finally determined that the substance was some sort of refrigerant oil. The assumption is that due to the warm rising temperature in the trailer, the container of product exploded then mixing with other materials in the trailer.

Many agencies responded to this incident to assist Sacramento City Fire, such as: Sacramento Metro Fire, Roseville Fire, and CERT to name a few. The Red Cross also responded with their Disaster Relief unit.

King stated that all the hazards had been mitigated and the incident would be turned back over to the shipping company.

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Japan XOXO: Dance for Japan

2011-04-27T23:53:20Z

Looking for something to do this Friday night? Put on your dancing shoes, head over to the Blue Lamp, and support a good cause! Japan XOXO is a benefit dance party, with all profits from the door going to the American Red Cross. Join local DJs Shaun Slaughter, Adam J, Sam I Jam, and Taylor Cho as they do what they love to support an amazing cause.

Feel like you could do more about Japan's dire situation? Feel helpless? Japan XOXO offers a very easy solution: COME DANCE.

Expect an evening of fun house, bouncy house, hip house, topsy turvy techno, treacherous techno, and some fun indie stuff mixed in the middle keeping the party going all damn night.

Plus, enjoy drink specials all night--$3 well drinks & $3.50 PBRs.

Feel like giving more? Do it! It's never too late (or too early) to help a good cause.

Specifics:
When: Friday, April 29, 2011, 10pm-2am
Where: Blue Lamp Lounge, 1400 Alhambra Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95816
Cost: $5 (all proceeds from cover costs go to American Red Cross)
Age: 21+

Two homes tragically burn in South Sacramento

2010-08-25T18:59:24Z

Sacramento, CA | Early Tuesday morning, two South Sacramento families were awakened to find their homes ablaze.

Sac Metro Fire and Cosumnes Fire Departments were called to Liscarney Way in the area of Vintage Park Dr. and Calvine Rd., for two homes burning. When firefighters arrived, they found two, two story homes with the second floor of both homes well involved with fire. All familiy members made it safely out of the homes after neighbors awakened them. Per Sac Metro Assistance Fire Chief Rice, both homes were severely damaged and the families would not be able to inhabit them. Red cross was called to assist the families. SacPress Contributing Writer and Photographer, Kati Garner, was one ot the Red Cross members who responded to aid the families. The blaze is currently under investigation.

View action footage from this incident>>

SacMav.com launches their new web site Friday morning. Be sure to check it out.

Discover Scuba Diving to help Red Cross help Haiti - February 6th

2010-01-30T00:38:10Z

SWIM, SNORKEL OR SCUBA !!!

As most of you know the small Island of Haiti suffered and continues to suffer from a massive earthquake. As a result of this The Northern California Swimstitute and SACSCUBA have partnered together to offer a unique fundraiser - DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING.

For every person who signs up to DISCOVER SCUBA DIVING - cost $70 per person - SACSCUBA & The Swimstitute will donate $40 to the American Red Cross to help the victims of the Haiti quake. Very simple. The date of the dive is:

FEBRUARY 6, 2010

Please call:

530-346-3483

Bring a friend and let's help out!

Local efforts to aid disaster in Haiti

2010-01-17T04:11:37Z

In wake of the recent disaster in Haiti, many people are looking for ways to help the victims. There are various ways to do so on a local level, and some businesses are already making a difference. From big to small, fundraisers and donations are giving Sacramentans ways to reach out to Haiti. With the damage still unknown, there is still more we can do to help.

Here’s what you can do to help with disaster relief in Haiti:

-Local businesses and communities can take the initiative to raise and donate funds to the Sacramento-Sierra Chapter of the American Red Cross, whose spokeswoman Trista Jensen says, “The best thing that people can do right now is to make a donation.”

KCRA 3 is joining with the Sacramento Sierra American Red Cross chapter to raise funds to help the victims in Haiti. On Monday from 4:30 a.m. until 7 p.m., the station’s Call 3 volunteers will be taking calls at 916-447-2255 if you'd like to make a donation.

Reach out to a local business you frequent and ask them to donate a percentage of their sales for one day, one hour, or even one item. Also, consider contributing to efforts already set in place, especially if it means shopping, dining, or attending events at an alternative venue that will donate some of those sales.

Raley’s, the West Sacramento-based grocer, has set up checkstand collection boxes for American Red Cross aid to Haiti at all 134 Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods and Food Source stores, beginning Saturday. Raley’s will accept donations through Feb. 13 and said Friday that it will give 100 percent of the donations directly to the American Red Cross and will pay for all its administrative costs.

Also joining the efforts is Punch Line Comedy Club , who will be hosting a comedy benefit February 2nd and will donate 100 percent of it’s ticket sales to Haitian relief. On February 17th Marilyn's will be hosting "Helping Hands for Haiti," a benefit show featuring local artists (visit soulsandsounds.com for more information).

Do you know of other local fundraisers planned? Are there restaurants, entertainment venues, or other local businesses pitching in to donate to the victims of the Haiti earthquake? If so, we want to spotlight them on The Sacramento Press. Please comment below or email mona@sacramentopress.com.

Check back this upcoming week for more information about how you can contribute to local efforts.

New CEO for Sacramento's Red Cross Chapter

2009-12-01T18:27:37Z

Dawn Lindblom is the new CEO of the Sacramento-Sierra Chapter of the American Red Cross.

According to Steve Turner, Sac-Sierra Chapter Board Chair, "Dawn is a perfect fit for this position, given her collaborative leadership style and track record. She came directly from her highly successful role as Regional Executive Director for the Inland Northwest Chapter in Spokane, WA".

"Spokane is a regional chapter like Sacramento", Lindblom explains. She oversaw six district chapters spread out over 38,611 square miles, almost two-thirds of the state of WA. Much of the area is rural.

The Sac-Sierra Chapter is the headquarters of eight district chapters in heavily populated areas.

Lindblom says the commonality between Eastern Washington and northern
California is the dryness factor for wildfires, as well as the potential for floods.

"We will be providing more Red Cross services to help people prevent, prepare and respond to emergencies in our chapter's jurisdiction," she says.

This will be achieved by volunteers.

"The American Red Cross is heavily dependent on its volunteers," Lindblom explains.
This region has around 3,000 volunteers throughout its eight chapters.

Nationally, the American Red Cross workforce is 97% volunteers; only 3% are paid staff.

"When a disaster happens, it's the volunteers who respond to fulfill our mission," Lindblom explains. "We wouldn't exist without our volunteers."

Her role, she says, is to facilitate the chapter in carrying out the Red Cross mission.

The Red Cross' humanitarian mission is preventing and alleviating human suffering.

That is accomplished through these core services—disaster relief, support for military families, international aid, health and safety training and community services like meals and transportation—to people in need.

On a daily basis, 24/7, chapters across the U.S. respond to local house fires.
The Sac-Sierra Chapter has five Disaster Action Teams that rotate weeks of being on call to respond to victims of fire calls in Sacramento County.

While serving as Executive Director in the Spokane Chapter, Lindblom responded, periodically, with the Disaster Action Team volunteers to these calls.

She recalls one response vividly.

"It was 10am on a Sunday morning and I was drinking my coffee and reading the paper when I got a call from the Team Captain," she says with a smile. "He asked tentatively if I really wanted to go on a fire call."

She says her husband watched as she sprung up, raced around getting dressed.

She says the team drove 45 minutes to get to the fire scene in a rural area.

"When we got there we saw all of their belongings had been tossed out windows by the firefighters in an effort to save them," Lindblom says. The Red Cross team provided emergency relief assistance to a single mom and her three children for food, lodging and clothing.

It was compelling for her to watch the volunteers react with compassion as they fulfilled the Red Cross mission.

The Red Cross responds to another type of disaster on a daily basis.

Red Cross emergency communications services keep military personnel in touch with their families following the death or serious illness of an immediate family member, the birth of a service member's child or grandchild or when a family faces other emergencies.

"We are also, literally, by the side of local families as they bury a loved one killed in the line of duty," Lindblom says.

Armed conflict and natural disasters leave millions of people around the globe in urgent need of humanitarian assistance every year.

The confusion and chaos surrounding war and natural disasters often separates families. Through the strength of the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network and the assistance of local tracing volunteers around the world families reconnect.

Lindblom says the Red Cross has been able to help find loved ones families have lost track of since WWII.

The American Red Cross has been training people from all walks of life for years in first aid, CPR and automated external defibrillator (AED) programs designed to give the confidence needed to respond in an emergency situation with skills that can save a life. The Sac-Sierra Chapter trains over 2,000 people a month in its Health and Safety classes.

In the midst of being the "new person on the block", Lindblom is overseeing the chapter's move to a new building the middle of December.

She is excited about the relocation. Thanks to Homeland Security funds, the new headquarters will be equipped with a disaster operation system. It will be equipped with the right tools and resources to handle a large-scale event. In case of power outages, a generator will keep it running.

"We will be located in a more centralized location - right across the street from Cal Expo," she says. "I get to facilitate creating an even greater chapter."

Article | Kati Garner, American Red Cross Volunteer

Photo | Courtesy, Dawn Lindblom

Sacramento storm scene shots

2009-10-14T03:46:09Z

Being the news photographer that I am I hit the road this morning around 9am to see how the storm was lashing our area. Thankfully it wasn't causing major damage from what I saw.

What I mainly found today in my travels around East Sac, American River Drive, Land Park, Greenhaven/Pocket area, downtown and midtown was leaves and limbs in yards and streets, standing water from plugged storm drains, bark stripped from trees and the wonderful smell of trees (kind of like that Christmas-smell).

At 10am, I saw this at L & 26th:

In the Land Park area, around 10:30am, I came upon these two scenes just off Riverside in Land Park:

This was a typical scene along some areas of Freeport along Land Park:

After lunch, I caught this in the Commons area close to CSUS. The guilty tree was being shredded:

I was ready to call it quits photo-wise until I a telephone call. I'm on call this week with the Sac-Sierra Chapter of the Red Cross to respond to incidents of people needing assistance with shelter, food and clothing after a disaster. I responded to a duplex that had a huge tree that split in the front yard. The structure was deemed unsafe in case gravity caused the tree to create more chaos.

And this was going along Land Park Drive - people begin to clean up:

And folks heading home probably feeling they should be piloting a boat along Land Park Dr:

Clearing storm drains and raking in East Sac around 5:40pm:

A major plug along Stockton Blvd in front of UC Davis Medical Center around 6pm:

And around 6:15pm, this welcome site:

Photos | Kati Garner

Sac-Sierra Red Cross responds to Auburn '49er' fire

2009-09-03T04:16:07Z

The American Red Cross will continue to offer emergency assistance to victims of the Auburn ‘49er Fire through a Local Assistance Center opened Tuesday at the Placer County Government Center in Auburn.

Evacuation Centers and Sheltering

The Red Cross Shelter closed at the Auburn Recreational District at 3770 Richardson off Dry Creek. Several clients registered with the center, but none stayed overnight.

Since the fire broke out Sunday afternoon, the Red Cross has registered about 220 clients (through 8 p.m. Monday) and served hundreds of others. On Sunday, about 130 clients registered with the two evacuation centers at Rock Creek Middle and Auburn Elementary schools. On Sunday night, 90 registered and eight people stayed at the shelter at Calvary Chapel Church. Dozens more gathered at the shelter in the morning. On Monday afternoon, the shelter moved to 3770 Richardson.

The Sacramento Sierra Red Cross will continue to offer services through its Placer District Office at 457 Grass Valley Highway, Suite 8, Auburn, CA95603.

Locating Loved Ones

Individuals trying to locate loved ones can register with the Red Cross’ Safe and Well Web site.

Canteening

The Red Cross’ canteen service provided ice, food and beverages to residents and firefighters and utility workers in the affected areas. The emergency response vehicles has been out in the neighborhoods.

Volunteers

About 90 volunteers from the Sacramento Sierra Chapter and its local Placer District Office have been providing services.

Help people affected by disasters like the California Wildfires by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. On those rare occasions when donations exceed Red Cross expenses for a specific disaster, contributions are used to prepare for and service victims of other disasters. Your gift enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of all disasters. Call 1-800-RED –CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to your local American Red Cross chapter or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.

Photos | Kati Garner