Bridge removed Friday at Creekside Cabins near Willits; not all residents evacuated

A bridge allowing residents to evacuate from the Creekside Cabins RV park and resort near Willits was removed Friday morning, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported.

Capt. Greg Van Patten said that residents were given a bit more time Friday morning to leave the facility, which the county has declared a "public health menace," but that the temporary bridge was removed at about 8:30 a.m. Jan. 27.

While many residents and their vehicles did leave the park, there are many people and vehicles remaining, according to Danilla Sands of United Disaster Relief of Northern California, an organization that not only helped many of the residents evacuate this week, but also helped provide basic necessities to the residents ever since the large sinkhole that blocked vehicular access to their homes opened on Dec. 30.

Sands said that "thanks to our hauler, a Good Samaritan, and the manager of the facility, we removed 15 trailers from the park." However, she said that 25 trailers and 21 vehicles remained after the bridge was removed, numbers that the county's Code Enforcement personnel confirmed Friday afternoon.

When asked if the MCSO would be citing any of the residents who remained on the property, Van Patten said that "we have no intention of entering the property and removing people or issuing citations. This is more of a humanitarian effort, and we do not intend to be heavy-handed in any way."

In fact, Van Patten said that an MCSO lieutenant on-site Friday morning helped vehicles navigate the bridge while exiting the park.

As for the latest update from county Social Services regarding assistance that the evacuated residents have received, county officials reported that as of Thursday evening, "of the 27 households at the park: 13 households have been issued vouchers to an alternate RV Park, five households have checked in to their sites, two households were issued hotel vouchers and are checked in to their rooms. Three households stated they had a moving plan, one of these are confirmed, but the remaining two are unverified. Eight households have not provided any information to the county and have not requested services."

County officials said they expected to give another update Friday evening.