The Airport fire in Orange County that began on Sept. 9 near Trabuco Canyon Road before raging through the Santa Ana Mountains has left many families displaced. The fire has destroyed more than 160 structures in Orange and Riverside counties and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,500 families. Sadly, some of those families do not have homes to return to.
In Anaheim, about 27 miles from Trabuco Canyon, travel and tourism organization Visit Anaheim is offering support through fire relief offers from the areas hotel and resort community.
"While Visit Anaheim is a tourism organization, our community is at the root of everything we do," said Mike Waterman, president and chief executive officer at Visit Anaheim. "When evacuation orders for the recent fires went into place, our team and hotel partners immediately jumped into action."
Visit Anaheim mobilized the support of five resorts in Anaheim and Garden Grove as early as Sept. 11, but the list of participating hotels has since grown to 25.
The Viv Hotel, Anaheim was among the first to join cause, offering 20% off retail rates for those affected by the fires.
Other participating Anaheim area hotels include Candlewood Suites Anaheim, offering families a 25% discount of their basic rack rate through Oct. 1. Embassy Suites by Hilton Anaheim North is making rooms available for a discounted rate of $149 a night plus tax until Sept. 26. The Anaheim Element by Westin Resort Convention Center is offering displaced families a flat rate of $183 a night for rooms that include full kitchen suites and a complimentary daily breakfast buffet until Oct. 9. Capri Suites Anaheim is providing rooms for $55 before taxes, with deposit of $100 and parking fees are waived. In Costa Mesa, the Avenue of the Arts Hotel is offering 15% off room rates through Nov. 1.
"Together, we were able to create a resource offering discounted hotel rooms for anyone being impacted," Waterman said.
Many of the individuals forced to evacuate last week were given less than an hour to leave their homes, leaving not only families displaced, but pets too. One Lake Elsinore family narrowly escaped the fire with their 46 animals, including dogs, cats, birds and tortoises. A few hundred horses were evacuated last week with the help of volunteers to Serrano Creek Ranch in Lake Forest and the Orange County Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa.
Additional large animal shelters that are being made available to those that have been evacuated include Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress and the Nohl Ranch Saddle Club in Anaheim. Foothill Ranch library located at 27002 Cabriole Way in Foothill Ranch is open for care and shelter and small household pets are welcomed too. OC Animal Care in Tustin is also offering animal services.