SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Seven members of two CUs here were confirmed to have lost their homes to a rare May Southern California wildfire, but credit unions breathed a sigh of relief as the flames spared their branches.
Teri Zanini, CEO of $35-million Santa Barbara County FCU, told CU Journal the "Jesusita" fire destroyed the homes of five of its members. "All had share or checking accounts; we did not hold the mortgage on any of those houses," she said.
Roy McLaughlin, CEO of Santa Barbara Teachers FCU, said fire claimed the homes of two of its members. "We had a mortgage loan on one of them, but it was fully insured," he said. "The member will have to rebuild, but will have to money to do so."
Pasadena, Calif.-based Wescom CU has two branches here, neither of which had to be closed due to the fire. A spokeswoman said no member or employee reported damage to their homes. One Wescom employee was evacuated, but her house survived.
The Jesusita fire was approximately 80% contained at press time. Santa Barbara County FCU's Zanini said full containment had been expected by May 13, but wind gusts pushed back estimated control by firefighters to May 20 at the earliest. The good news: the hot spots mostly were confined to the foothills of the Los Padres National Forest, away from populated areas.
At least half of Santa Barbara County FCU's staff missed work on May 8 after their homes were evacuated overnight when winds known locally as "Sundowners" kicked up to dangerous levels.
"We had to shut down our branch about an hour early on [May 8] because the smoke was so bad even inside the building," Zanini reported. "Every time a member opened the door, heavy ash came in. But we were open on [May 9], normal hours."
One of Santa Barbara Teachers FCU's three branches is in the city itself. Flames were visible from that branch on the afternoon of May 7 and it was closed on May 8, said McLaughlin. "Our building was in the mandatory evacuation zone, so members weren't able to come here," he said. "The fire came within one mile of our branch when the winds picked up Thursday night into Friday morning."
The branch reopened for regular hours on May 11, McLaughlin said. Four of Santa Barbara Teachers FCU's 12 staffers were evacuated from their homes at times during the fire, but none lost property.
