Situation Overview
On Tuesday, January 7, 2025 we began monitoring several wildfires in the Los Angeles area, including the Palisades Fire, which at the time had affected approximately 350 acres. As Santa Ana winds escalated to gale-force speeds of 60-80 miles per hour, with some gusts as high as 100 miles per hour, the Palisades Fire had quadrupled in size in a matter of hours. Thousands of people fled the area, many abandoning their vehicles along the hillside roads and highways and continuing on foot. Later that day, the Eaton Fire ignited, and began to spread as quickly as the Palisades Fire to its southwest.
As of Sunday, January 12th, at least 12,000 structures have been destroyed, and the total number of lives lost rose to 24. Eight individuals perished in the Palisades Fire, and 16 in the Eaton Fire.
Among the victims of the wildfires, profiled here, was a father who was an amputee and refused to leave his son, who had cerebral palsy; a former child star who was born blind and with cerebral palsy; a great-grandmother; and a 66-year-old trying to protect the home that had been in his family for over five decades.
As of Monday, January 13, the Palisades Fire is now at 23,713 acres and 14% contained. The Eaton Fire has grown to 14,117 acres, and is 33% contained. The much smaller Hurst Fire is at 799 acres, and 95% containment.
Firefighters continue to battle these blazes as another round of strong winds is expected to set up extreme fire weather conditions this week from Monday to Wednesday.
Disabled Disaster Relief for the Southern California Wildfires
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Updated: January 13, 2025 by admin
We are in active response mode for the Los Angeles wildfires.
We need your help to continue our work!
Our Disability and Disaster Hotline has received 85 calls since the fires began.
Situation Overview
On Tuesday, January 7, 2025 we began monitoring several wildfires in the Los Angeles area, including the Palisades Fire, which at the time had affected approximately 350 acres. As Santa Ana winds escalated to gale-force speeds of 60-80 miles per hour, with some gusts as high as 100 miles per hour, the Palisades Fire had quadrupled in size in a matter of hours. Thousands of people fled the area, many abandoning their vehicles along the hillside roads and highways and continuing on foot. Later that day, the Eaton Fire ignited, and began to spread as quickly as the Palisades Fire to its southwest.
As of Sunday, January 12th, at least 12,000 structures have been destroyed, and the total number of lives lost rose to 24. Eight individuals perished in the Palisades Fire, and 16 in the Eaton Fire.
Among the victims of the wildfires, profiled here, was a father who was an amputee and refused to leave his son, who had cerebral palsy; a former child star who was born blind and with cerebral palsy; a great-grandmother; and a 66-year-old trying to protect the home that had been in his family for over five decades.
As of Monday, January 13, the Palisades Fire is now at 23,713 acres and 14% contained. The Eaton Fire has grown to 14,117 acres, and is 33% contained. The much smaller Hurst Fire is at 799 acres, and 95% containment.
Firefighters continue to battle these blazes as another round of strong winds is expected to set up extreme fire weather conditions this week from Monday to Wednesday.
Disability and Disaster Hotline Update
We are coordinating with the Los Angeles-area CIL network, Team Rubicon, LA City Emergency Management, California Office of Emergency Services (Cal-OES), and other local partners, to support a variety of needs, including:
Evacuation planning for disabled people under mandatory and voluntary evacuation;
Sheltering / housing coordination;
Distribution of N95 masks;
Coordinating delivery of water, food, durable medical equipment, consumable medical supplies, and other essentials to people unable to access points of distribution;
Advocating to prevent discrimination and institutionalization;
Prioritizing and promoting disaster services for people with disabilities;
Educating emergency management to deliver equitable programs and services;
Ensuring effective communication by government and NGOs to ensure people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs understand and can act upon information in the same way as the general public.
Stories Highlighting the Greatest Needs and Barriers
A couple in Santa Monica requested help with safe, accessible evacuation. Husband has progressive MS, uses a Hoyer lift and hospital bed at home, concerned about availability of these items in shelters.
Our hotline operator worked with the CIL network, City of LA Emergency Operations Center and LA Fire Department to elevate their needs and make a plan.
N95 Masks
Multiple callers requesting N95 masks, especially outside of immediate fire zones.
Through a contact from the CIL network, we have partnered with Team Rubicon to assist with delivery of masks directly to our callers.
Temporary / Transitional Housing
Accessible housing is a challenge in every disaster, and no less so in California. Eligibility for FEMA assistance, including its Temporary Sheltering Assistance (TSA) program, is based on damage, and many properties will not be available for damage assessment until the fires are 100% contained and search and rescue operations are complete. This leaves many survivors in a state of limbo, moving from place to place with family members and friends, if those options exist. Generous offers of discounted or free hotel rooms and AirBnb properties have been rapidly depleted due to high demand.
Many of our callers now find themselves temporarily unhoused, and we are working with local and national partners to find solutions.
Your support can make a life-saving difference.
Together, we can ensure that no one is left behind during disasters.
Thank you for your support!
The Partnership in the News
The LA Times article, Altadena family says disabled father and son were left to burn: ‘Nobody was coming,’ speaks to what we as a disability community have long known, that disabled people are disproportionately more likely to die or be injured in disasters than non-disabled people.
Anthony Mitchell, Sr., who died alongside his son, Justin, called family members around 5:00 AM Wednesday morning, January 8th to say that they were still waiting for an ambulance, but he could see homes fully engulfed in flames on the other side of the street. His eldest son, Anthony Mitchell, Jr., in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, said “He probably knew nobody was coming, but he wanted to keep everybody at ease. He probably could have gotten up and walked away, but he’s not gonna leave my brother.”
Other relatives said firefighters stopped them from entering the evacuation zone to help get their family members out safely. Father and son became two of the earliest fatalities of the Eaton Fire, as they waited for a rescue that never came.
Email: hotline@disasterstrategies.org
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Category: CA Fires, Disaster Response, Fundraising, News Tags: disability, disaster relief, disasters, response