October 13, 2008

At approximately 8:00am, AmeriCare received a phone call requesting us to send two (2) strike teams into the San Fernando Valley, Lopez Canyon area to assist in the evacuation of some local Convalescent Hospitals due to the threat of the Marek Fire, which was rapidly approaching. The fire was started the night before at 01:58am in the Lopez Canyon area. Over 1,272 Firefighters from various Fire Departments from all over the state of California were called in to help battle the blaze. Later in the day as the winds picked up, the evacuation orders were extended affecting even more residents and Convalescent Hospitals. In total, AmeriCare Ambulance sent ten (10) ambulances, two (2) ALS Units, one (1) CCT Unit, seven (7) BLS Units and two (2) strike team leaders to help in the evacuation efforts, and by the end of the day, we evacuated a total of 50 patients, 30 of which were sub acute needing special care.