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SAVE: Supplying Aid to Victims of Emergency
“I was lucky to escape with my life.”
Jason Vasquez was desperate. His home in Anaheim was being consumed by fire and he’d narrowly escaped with pretty much nothing but the clothes on his back. “The smoke was so deadly that I couldn’t even reach the front door and get my wallet and keys that were on a table just behind the front door,” Vasquez recalled.
For survivors of fires and natural disasters, the story is familiar. A frantic flight for life. An overwhelming feeling of loss and isolation. A need for some comfort and a bit of help. Easing that burden is what the SAVE program is all about.
Supplying Aid to Victims of Emergency (SAVE) is a victim assistance program created by CPF’s California Fire Foundation. Through SAVE, frontline firefighters and select community-based organizations (CBOs) in California provide $250 SAVE gift cards to eligible survivors of fire and natural disasters so they may purchase basic necessities such as food, clothing, medicine or maybe a place to stay the night. Firefighters – the front line responders right there on the scene – deliver that aid directly to those who need it.
“I lost everything, including ID, wallet, phone, and money” Vasquez said. “The SAVE card got me a place to stay, food, and ability to get a new phone. It really helped,”
After we got evacuated it took a few days before we knew our place was gone. The SAVE card put a little bit of light in all that darkness.
– Kathy Sheldon, survivor of the North Complex Fire
The SAVE program is available to any officially organized fire department or district and runs at no cost to them. To date, over 111 departments across the state of California are participating in the program.
“As firefighters we don’t often get closure with our residents as it relates to emergency response,” said Seaside Fire Dept. Chief Mary Gutierrez. “The SAVE card program allows us some positive closure with residents who experience traumatic events post fire, and the card always puts a smile on the faces of those who receive them.”
SAVE was mobilized most dramatically during and after the Camp, Hill, and Woolsey Fires of 2018. The California Fire Foundation mobilized direct assistance through local fire departments and volunteers. Over a three week period, cards were distributed at the FEMA center in Chico and at various locations throughout Southern California. More than 10,000 cards, totaling over $2.6 million were given to survivors. During his time at the FEMA center, Chico Fire Captain Ken Smith was able to personally give that extra bit of aid and comfort to his community, which saw 85 fatalities and more than 11,000 homes destroyed.
“With the Camp Fire tragedy, an entire community was lost in 15 minutes,” said Smith. “After receiving the SAVE card, we had people return to the FEMA center and stand in line for an hour just to thank us.”
While the SAVE program is administered directly by participating fire departments across California each day, the program also mobilizes for rapid disaster relief when communities are impacted by wildfire or natural disasters. When the record-breaking Dixie, Caldor and River Fires raged across the state in 2021, the Foundation worked directly with community-based organizations on the ground to help get the SAVE cards to those in need as quickly as possible. Nearly $330,000 in aid was provided to those impacted.
“We are witnessing first-hand the devastation and trauma people are experiencing when they come through our doors, said Cathy Rahmeyer, Director of Operations at the Plumas Crisis Intervention and Resource Center. “The SAVE cards from the California Fire Foundation are like sending angels to allow us to help others,”
“We’ve been fortunate to have generous donors who have made it possible for our firefighters to provide this help for those in need,” said CPF President Brian Rice, who chairs the California Fire Foundation. “It is also thanks to the dedication of those distributing the cards, whether that is a firefighter on scene at a house fire or an organization on the ground assisting with a major disaster.”
While SAVE can be a lifeline to victims like Jason Vasquez, Captain Smith says it means something to those making the gift, too. “To be able to hand people this amazing gift and for them be able to go buy gas or get a hotel room is such a simple gesture that people are so grateful for,” he said. “The SAVE program is incredible.”
To learn more about SAVE and how your department can be a part of it, visit cafirefounation.org/save.