People who did not know others in Rohnert Park got the opportunity to stay at the Casino, and that helped make people feel more at ease during this devastating situation. Residents who had evacuated from other areas showed great appreciation that they had a place they could go to and stay. We were grateful for the opportunity to stay at Graton since we did not know of another place to go to.” She goes on to say, “We were pretty frightened since this is not the first time this has happened. Me, along with my husband, and dog all left and they were nice enough to let us stay there until we knew it was safe to go back,” says Nancy Just, a Santa Rosa resident. “I had evacuated to Graton after there was a warning that the fire might come near my neighborhood. The 1 million dollar pledge has created an assistant fund for the immediate needs of team members displaced by fires, including food, clothing, and toiletries. “Not only are hundreds of our very own team members and tribal members displaced permanently from their homes, but we are heartbroken for the countless neighbors, families and friends whose lives have dramatically been affected by this ongoing devastation,” said Greg Sarris, tribal chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, owners of Graton Casino.

A hotel spokeswoman did not have an estimate of how many rooms had been donated to evacuees but confirmed that Graton has pledged to donate $1 million to the fire relief effort. Graton opened some of its rooms to evacuees and provided food to first responders. Casinos are usually places where people gamble, drink, and dine, but in this case, things were a lot different. Rohnert Park’s Graton Casino opened its hotel to fire refugees in Sonoma County after the Kincade fire, another destructive wildfire struck Sonoma County, and more than 180,000 people evacuated.

Fires near graton casino