Wildfire
The firestorm continued its path of destruction across Los Angeles County, forcing credit unions to keep some of their branches on lockdown.
The $1.2 billion Southland Credit Union based in Los Alamitos closed its two Santa Monica branches on Friday after city leaders issued an evacuation order and an evacuation warning for portions of the city. The only credit union headquartered in Santa Monica, the $147 million California Lithuanian Credit Union, was open for business on Friday and was not affected by the evacuation order or warning as of Friday afternoon.
The $2.1 billion First Entertainment Credit Union in Hollywood said all but one of its branches would be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, while its Sony Picture Lot branch will be closed until further notice, according to a posting on its website.
The $312 million Actors Federal Credit Union closed its North Hollywood branch on Friday, while its Los Angeles branch remained open.
Because of poor air quality from the fire, the Pasadena branch of the $6.4 billion Wescom Credit Union closed on Friday. The UCLA campus closure also forced the credit union to shut down its campus branch there on Thursday and Friday.
Although all of the branches of the $2 billion Caltech Employees Federal Credit Union in La Canada have been closed since Wednesday, the credit union decided to open its campus office location in Pasadena on Friday.
Several credit unions have reported that some of their employees were required to evacuate their homes.
The California Credit Union League (CCUL) said Thursday that CU Aid disaster grants are available to assist credit union employees and board members with immediate financial relief needs. For more information, please visit CCUL’s crisis response page.
As of late Friday afternoon, the California firestorm has destroyed at least 10,000 properties, placed more than 100,000 people under evacuation orders and claimed the lives of at least 10 people, according to national media reports.
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