On Jan. 7, a series of wildfires broke out across Los Angeles, leaving thousands of people without homes. The biggest fires were the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, which occurred alongside smaller blazes.
The first fire, The Palisades Fire, spread across East Los Angeles growing to 23,448 acres and destroying over 6,800 structures, while The Eaton Fire, began near Eaton Canyon and spread throughout national forest lands. It is estimated that this fire burned 14,021 acres and destroyed 10,491 structures.
Two weeks later, on Jan. 22, yet another fire, the Hughes Fire, erupted near Castaic Lake. This fire grew rapidly and covered over 10,000 acres.
These fires not only destroyed homes but many public institutions. In Pacific Palisades, fires burned down two elementary schools, and a large number of other schools were evacuated or damaged. In addition, hospitals and clinics had to close down. During the Hughes Fire, a Castaic jail complex was in an evacuation zone, and around 480 inmates were moved to a sturdier structure, but no inmates were evacuated.
The fires resulted in 29 fatalities, over 200,000 evacuations, and more than 16,000 structures destroyed or damaged. As of Feb. 3 all fires were contained.
Many organizations provided assistance or organized drives for the fire victims. The Salvation Army was one of the first to provide first aid care, housing, and financial support. In addition, Direct Relief worked on supplying medical resources to first responders and other healthcare agencies, and Baby2Baby focused on providing essentials to children and families.
National organizations were not the only people to respond. On Jan. 27, Carrollton held a dress down to fundraise for the victims of the LA wildfires. Funds went directly to Catholic Charities in California.
