Nov
14
Posted by Marco Tamase on November 14th, 2018
Posted in: Announcements, Consumer Health, Emergency Preparedness and Response, NLM Products, Public Health
On November 8, 2018, several wildfires erupted in the Butte and Solano counties of northern California and the Los Angeles and Ventura counties of southern California. This batch of wildfires includes the Camp Fire in Butte County which is now the deadliest wildfire in modern California history with 56 civilian casualties and about 130 people still unaccounted for. It leveled much of the Sierra Nevada foothills town of Paradise and has destroyed more than 10,300 structures. The Woolsey Fire, which has burned for several days, has destroyed more than 500 structures and has singed hillsides and coastline across nearly 100,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, an area the size of the city of Denver. On November 9, Acting Governor Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation for the counties affected by the wildfires.
On November 13, President Trump approved a major disaster declaration for California. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the state of California to supplement state, tribal and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires beginning on November 8 and continuing. On the same day, HHS Secretary Azar declared a public health emergency in California due to the wildfires. This declaration provides HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services beneficiaries and their healthcare providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs created by the wildfires. In addition, regional emergency coordinators (RECs) have been deployed to coordinate with state and local health authorities and emergency response officials.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) has compiled resources to assist with response and recovery from the latest California wildfires. Information guides on disaster topics and the Disaster Lit® database provide access to curated, reliable information from vetted Federal, state, and local governments and organizations.
Key National Resources
Key California Resources
Butte County
Los Angeles County
Key Documents
Social Media
Update (November 30, 2018):
Following the recent wildfires, heavy rainstorms have threatened the fire-scorched areas with potential mudslides, landslides and flash floods.
Landslides & Mudslides
Webinar
We will continue to provide updates to this list as additional news and information about the California wildfires is received.