The whole of Los Angeles is reeling from the impact of the Palisades and Eaton Fires, named the two most destructive fires in the history of the second-largest city in the United States.
At the conclusion of both fires, nearly 40,000 acres of homes, businesses, and landmarks in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades burned and took the lives of more than two dozen people.
Early in the afternoon on January 7th, as the city watched the fires escalate, the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) Foundation issued a funding alert, anticipating urgent needs for firefighters assembling to protect lives and property.
Within hours of the alert, the Annenberg and Wasserman Foundations responded with a joint one-million-dollar gift to support firefighters on the front lines. They also announced a call to action encouraging other foundations, corporations, and organizations with capacity to do the same and give back.
This was the catalyst for a wave of community support that poured in as people near and far desired to help Los Angeles firefighters. Donations from one dollar to twenty dollars and more poured in from the Los Angeles community and beyond. In just the first week of the fires, contributions from those giving what they could totaled more than six million dollars.
Donors big and small are the reason that the LAFD Foundation was able to respond to the immediate needs of those on the front lines alternating 12-hour non-stop shifts to protect as much of the Palisades community as possible.
The LAFD Foundation was on the ground at incident command, or “base camp,” during the first week of the fires, witnessing the critical gaps in immediate needs up close, addressing them in the moment, and updating the community as needs changed.
The base camp at Will Rogers State Beach housed multiple agencies and served as the main staging area for resources fighting the Palisades Fire. When tools vital to operations, such as computer and TV monitors, generators, and power banks were needed, the Foundation purchased and deployed them immediately.
The LAFD Foundation also purchased new hydration backpacks, a common need for wildland firefighting. As embers flew across the PCH and base camp was repeatedly shrouded in toxic smoke, the goggles, headlamps, and hot shields that the Foundation secured were “game-changers” for the firefighters in the thick of the fire.
The Foundation’s mission was amplified more than it has ever been amid these tragedies, and more vital than the team could have imagined.
“I can’t talk enough about the LAFD Foundation,” said LAFD Captain Andy Ruiz, a 30-year career firefighter. “It gives you a sense of comfort knowing that if you need something immediately, it’s going to happen.”
From emergency fire shelters that provide immediate protection from active flames in the field to hand tools that assist ground crews with cutting tree limbs and clearing brush, support from the Los Angeles community enabled the LAFD Foundation to put its purpose into action.
“The LAFD Foundation, we all have respect for. They’ve been providing services to firefighters and fire stations for a very long time,” said LAFD Firefighter/Paramedic Chase Coleman. “I keep hearing over and over again about what the Foundation is doing. It’s been a great support this entire time,” he added.
The Foundation cannot emphasize enough the significance of the support that it has received since the fires began. The outpouring of generosity from the residents of LA and from around the world will help ensure that the Foundation can always be responsive to firefighters’ immediate needs, long after the last flames have dissipated.
Photos by LAFD Photographer Gary Apodaca
