SANTA ROSA, Calif.—One credit union has had its office damaged from the massive California wildfires and another is in harm’s way, according to the California and Nevada Leagues. At least one CU employee has lost their home.
The deadly fires have killed at least 15 people, damaged more than 2,000 buildings, and forced nearly 20,000 residents to evacuate.
The league stated that it currently is aware of a First Tech FCU location within one of its SEG groups that was damaged, while the headquarters of Redwood CU in Santa Rosa, Calif., remains undamaged but still very close to the nearby fires. First Tech’s headquarters are in Mountain View, Calif.
Some credit unions have closed branches mostly due to either street closures or poor air quality, including SchoolsFirst FCU’s Anaheim Hills branch, the Napa branches of Golden 1 CU and Travis CU, Community First CU Fulton Road branch in Santa Rosa, as well as three branches of Patelco CU. The Paradise branch of Sierra Central CU is closed on evacuation orders, the league reported.
In addition, some credit union staff have been personally affected, including Community First CU CEO Todd Sheffield. He has been evacuated, though his home is fine at this point. One staff member from Sonoma County FCU lost her home, the league noted.
“While we could see the flames from our windows on two different hillsides yesterday, the corporate building in Anaheim Hills is currently out of the path of the fire,” Credit Union of Southern California SVP of Marketing and Development Michelle Hunter, told the league.
She added that most of the credit union’s team members at the Anaheim Hills location are working elsewhere due to street and freeway closures, and poor air quality.
The league said it is in the midst of setting up relief efforts via CUAid through the National Credit Union Foundation.
Also, Community First Credit Union, headquartered in Napa, asked its members on its website to “please be patient with us–systems up and running, although we are a bit behind due to Internet and power outages throughout our service region.”
The league provided a list of the CUs in affected areas:
Napa County
Silverado CU
Travis CU
Golden 1 CU
Sonoma County
Redwood CU
Sonoma FCU
North Bay CU
First Tech FCU
Patelco CU
Operating Engineers FCU
Mendocino
City of Ukiah Employees CU
Community First CU
Orange County
Credit Union of Southern California
SchoolsFirst FCU
Wescom CU
Sutter County
Sierra Central CU
Yuba County
Sierra Central CU
First US Community CU