The California Credit Union League is still assessing the full impact of how raging wildfires are affecting CUs in the state, but one thing is for sure. A total of 17 state fires have disrupted operations at 16 CUs across six different counties in the Golden State.
So far, 2,000 structures have been destroyed, at least 17 people have died, and there are reports of 150 missing in North California. Fires have burned more than 100,000 acres including damaging or destroying several wineries.
California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, Yuba, Nevada and Orange counties.
Additionally, the state league is setting up relief efforts via CUAid through the National Credit Union Foundation, and CCUL will continue to update the status of CUs in California through its weekly e-communication, CU Weekly, at www.ccul.org.
Among those CUs dealing with the fires are:
- A SEG-based branch of $10.5 billion-asset First Tech Federal Credit Union
- The headquarters of $3.5 billion Redwood Credit Union in Santa Rosa is untouched, but officials are monitoring the situation closely, as the facility is located close to nearby fires.
Additionally, the following CUs have closed branches mostly due to either street closures or poor air quality:
- $13.8 billion SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union’s Anaheim Hills branch
- the Napa branches of $11.1 billion Golden 1 Credit Union and $2.8 billion Travis Credit Union
- Three of $5.8 billion Patelco Credit Union’s branches
- The Paradise branch of $922.2 million Sierra Central Credit Union is closed on evacuation orders
- $211.5 million Community First Credit Union’s Fulton Road branch in Santa Rosa.
Community First Credit Union CEO Todd Sheffield has evacuated his home but is fine at this point. One staff member from Sonoma County Federal Credit Union lost her home.
“While we could see the flames from our windows on two different hill sides yesterday, the corporate building in Anaheim Hills is currently out of the path of the fire,” said Michelle Hunter, SVP of marketing and development at $1.2 billion Credit Union of Southern California.
