LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29, 2020 — The American Red Cross Los Angeles Region is opening an evacuation center at the Westwood Recreation Center for those affected by the Barrington Plaza Fire.
Westwood Recreation Center
1350 S. Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90025
All are welcome at the evacuation center, and the services being provided include snacks, water and a safe and clean place to rest. Working with our community partners including LAFD, the Red Cross was alerted that there was a need for an evacuation center to be opened as those affected need a safe place to learn more about their residence and what actions are being taken. The evacuation center will remain open for as long as there is a need.
“The Red Cross is committed to helping all those affected and providing services until we are no longer needed,” said Marium Mohiuddin, Communication Director of the Red Cross LA. “When a home fire starts in your hose, you have two minutes to get out. We encourage all residents to evacuate if they need to and lean on the Red Cross if we can be of help.”
HOME FIRES ARE THE MOST FREQUENT DISASTER IN THE U.S. Every eight minutes, the Red Cross responds to a disaster in the U.S. — most often, home fires. Just in the past five months, Red Cross volunteers responded to 137 home fires in Los Angeles County.
This afternoon starting at 1 p.m., the Red Cross LA is also hosting a preparedness open house as part of its “I’m Ready.” campaign. All are welcome to attend and learn more as this campaign is designed to address the needs of individuals and families to prepare for disasters by walking through five steps. More information on this campaign and available resources can be found at preparesocal.org.
"I'm Ready." PrepareSoCal Disaster Preparedness Open House
A special interactive open house event hosted at the Red Cross Los Angeles Region headquarters will walk attendees through five-step process with hands-on activities run by disaster preparedness experts.
"I'm Ready." PrepareSoCal Disaster Preparedness Open House
Wednesday Jan. 29, 1 - 3 p.m.
1450 S Central Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90021
To help increase home fire safety, the Red Cross works with partners to prevent fire-related deaths and injuries by installing free smoke alarms in high-risk communities and helping families create escape plans through its Home Fire Campaign — which has saved at least 658 lives across the country since launching in October 2014. Since then, volunteers and local partners have installed more than 33,800 free smoke alarms in Los Angeles making thousands of homes safer from the threat of home fires.
Helping people prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters has been at the heart of the Red Cross’ PrepareSoCal mission.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies about 40 percent of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a not-for-profit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org/la or cruzrojaamericana.org, or visit us on Twitter at @RedCrossLA or @CruzRojaLA.