JOHN DAY — Grant County has set aside room for nearly 350 fire evacuees at two locations, should the need arise.

Individuals evacuating from the Falls Fire burning on the county’s southern flank near Seneca and Izee can head to the old gym at Grant Union Jr./Sr. High School at 911 S. Canyon Boulevard in John Day or the field at the east end of the Grant County Fairgrounds on Southeast Third Avenue near the John Day Community Garden.

Grant Union Jr./Sr. High School has cots for 44 people and can obtain more if necessary. The community garden site can accommodate 300-plus people camping in tents and trailers if necessary.

The shelter at Grant Union is operated by volunteers from the Red Cross. Shelter manager Sylvia Raumaker said there are shower facilities, bathrooms, beds and meals offered at the site.

Raumaker said the Red Cross will also offer disaster service counseling and health services to those who need it.

Grant County’s only volunteer at the Red Cross shelter, Jim Spell, said the group is here and ready to help those who need it.

“Shelters aren’t just for sleeping,” he said. “They’re also for information and other services.”

The field on Third Avenue won’t have the same kind of services that the Red Cross site at Grant Union will, but it is a place that can accommodate a large number of evacuees if needed.

Fairgrounds Manager Mindy Winegar said evacuees would be able to bring trailers, campers or tents and can also bring generators to the site, although she cautioned it is set up for “dry camping” only.

“Down there, there are just no amenities,” she said.

In addition to ample room for camping, Winegar said the fairgrounds will have space to house animals as well.

“We can right now accommodate some large and small animals,” she said.

Winegar said she does have events that are set to take place at the fairgrounds, but everybody has been willing to help accommodate evacuees if necessary.

“The event this weekend said they would try to share as much as possible if it comes to that, and we have some electricity out in the parking lot,” she said. “Everybody is trying to work together.”

There is some concern that fire evacuees could cause logistical issues if they are still on site when the fair begins on Aug. 2. Winegar said those concerns are secondary to the lives that could be changed and livelihoods that could be lost due to the fires.

Both the Red Cross site at Grant Union Jr./Sr. High School and the field near the community garden are going to be open and operating as long as needed, according to both Winegar and Raumaker.