The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has tens of thousands of facilities and letter carriers situated across the country to meet our mail needs on a near-daily basis. But if your local post office is not open during regular hours or your mail hasn't been delivered on a day it usually is, there's probably a good reason why. As it turns out, hazardous conditions are now affecting services in multiple areas. Read on to find out where and why the USPS is suspending services.
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The USPS is suspending services at several post offices in California.
iStockDifferent disruptions can lead to service issues for postal customers. But the USPS tries to warn customers when this is happening on its Service Alerts website. With this tool, you can find "current, frequently-updated information about whether mail is being delivered to your neighborhood or if your local Post Office is open," the Postal Service explains.
The most recent alerts indicate that the USPS has suspended services at three post offices in California. According to the updates, the affected facilities are located in the towns of Scott Bar, Seiad Valley, and Washington.
The three facilities were closed because of wildfires.
Trevor Bexon / ShutterstockA hazardous natural disaster prompted the Postal Service's decision to close the Scott Bar, Seiad Valley, and Washington facilities. According to the alerts from Aug. 16 and 17, all three of the California post offices are currently "temporarily closed due to wildfire."
Both Scott Bar and Seiad Valley are located near the northern part of the state, right near the Oregon border. These two towns are battling the Head Fire, which is burning in the Klamath National Forest, The Siskiyou Daily News reported. As of Aug. 17, this wildfire has grown to approximately 4,000 acres, and none of it has been contained, according to the newspaper. Evacuation orders are also currently in place for people living in the area.
Meanwhile, the town of Washington is dealing with a separate wildfire called the Highway Fire, which officials believe may have been caused by a lightning strike, local NBC-affiliate KCRA reported. Although smaller than the Head Fire, the Highway Fire has also prompted evacuation orders for those in Washington, according to KCRA.
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Delivery services have also been impacted in these areas.
ShutterstockThe USPS said that customers from the three California post offices can access retail services at alternative facilities during the closures. But according to separate local press releases, the wildfires also mean that deliveries are suspended.
Mandatory evacuations due to the wildfires in Siskiyou County and Nevada County have "resulted in delivery impacts for some evacuated customers served by" the Seiad Valley, Scott Bar, and Washington post offices, the USPS stated in its two releases from Aug. 16 and 17.
Seiad Valley Post Office customers are being directed to the Happy Camp Post Office to pick up their mail. Meanwhile, Scott Bar Post Office customers should go to the Fort Jones Post Office, and Washington Post Office customers should visit the Nevada City Post Office to do the same.
"This is a rapidly changing situation, and the USPS is proud to serve our local communities," the agency said in its local releases. "We ask for patience as we hold our solemn duties to provide the safest, fastest, and most efficient method of providing mail service to our residents."
Best Life reached out to the USPS to see if there is any information on when the Scott Bar, Seiad Valley, and Washington facilities will reopen, and we will update this story with their response.
Wildfires have also affected USPS services in Hawaii.
ShutterstockPostal customers in California are not the only ones dealing with service disruptions due to wildfires.
On Aug. 9, the Postal Service updated its Service Alerts website to announce that it had "temporarily suspended operations" at two post offices in Hawaii: Lahaina and Downtown Lahaina. Then on Aug. 11, the agency issued another alert to let the public know that these two facilities were still closed due to ongoing wildfires in Maui.
"Effective immediately, mail service for customers of the Lahaina Main Post Office and Lahaina Downtown Post Office will be temporarily relocated to the Wailuku Post Office, as detailed below," the Postal Service added in a separate local press release. "USPS will make every effort to resume operations in Lahaina after west Maui roads become accessible."
