Skip to main content
a large roadside forest fire
U.S. Forest fire crews fight fire with fire as they set off huge backfires to cut off the northern flank of the Thomas fire near Rose Valley recreation area on Saturday. Dec. 9, 2017 in the Los Padres National Forest. (Photo by Gene Blevins for the Los Angeles DailyNews/SCNG)

2017 California Wildfire Relief

281,893 acres

were consumed by the Thomas Fire, California’s largest modern wildfire at the time.

Impact

  • LA Fire Department Foundation
    • providing hydration backpacks for firefighters and night-vision goggles for helicopter pilots
  • L.A. Kitchen
    • providing meals for first responders and people in shelters
  • Humane Society of Ventura County
    • providing assistance for over 300 animals displaced as a result of the fires

Share This

Entertainment Industry Foundation Establishes SOCAL Fire Relief Fund

In 2017, total of 9,560 fires burned 1,548,429 acres of land in California. During the year, 5 of the 20 most destructive wildfires in the state’s history burned between October and December: #1 Tubbs, #6 Nuns, #7 Thomas, #11 Atlas, and #17 Redwood Valley Complex.

The Thomas fire began on December 4, north of Santa Paula, in Ventura County. Fast-moving, it quickly reached the city of Ventura, where over five hundred residences were destroyed that night. The fire would go on to burn 1,063 structures and damaging 280 and caused death of one firefighter, one civilian directly and 21 civilians indirectly due to mud and debris slides in 2018.

As the Thomas fire and others raged throughout Southern California, EIF launched the SOCAL Fire Relief Fund to provide members of the entertainment community and the public with a way to offer support.

firefighters in uniform spraying a bush fire with a hose of water
Photo by John McCoy, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG

Donations were granted to three main beneficiaries: the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, providing costly hydration backpacks for firemen and night-vision goggles for helicopter pilots fighting the fires; L.A. Kitchen, providing food for first responders and people in shelters who have been affected by the fires; and the Humane Society of Ventura County, providing assistance for over 300 animals displaced as a result of the fires.