Americares Response to California Wildfires

Situation

Beginning January 7, multiple wildfires burned large swaths of Los Angeles County, charring more than 37,700 acres and damaging or destroying thousands of structures, including homes, schools and businesses. The fires forced more than 150,000 residents to evacuate. By February 11, 2025, both the Palisades and Eaton fires were fully contained. According to Calfire, the largest fires – Palisades and Eaton – destroyed more than 16,000 structures, including homes, and killed 30 people.

During and after the fires, both air and water contained health risks: Debris particles and toxic ash in the air were especially dangerous for individuals with respiratory conditions such as asthma and COPD. Officials also warned that fire damage to reservoirs and pumps had compromised water infrastructure in some areas and urged residents to avoid drinking or cooking with tap water for weeks after the fire.

Americares Response

Americares is focused on meeting the health needs in communities affected by the Los Angeles wildfire crisis.

To ease survivors’ stress and help local nonprofit organizations meet the urgent needs of their low-income patients, Americares is providing $1 million in direct cash assistance in the form of gift cards. As of April 15, 2025, more than 970 families or individuals qualified due to low income and had received a total of $626,000 in direct cash assistance. Of those, 552 had lost their home, 587 had been displaced and more than 300 recipients were requesting cash assistance because they had lost income. Additionally, 218 reported a disability and 19 were pregnant. “I wish I could express how grateful all of the families have been,” says Ed Gerber, executive director of Lestonnac Free Clinic, Americares local partner managing the distributions across Los Angeles. “It was truly a lifeline thrown to people drowning in a sea of frustration.”

Americares also provided emergency funding to expand mobile health services in the region, making no-cost care and medicine accessible in low-income, wild-fire affected communities. Survivors going without medicine can have a health crisis, says AnaRuiz, chief executive officer of Vida obile Clinic, which received emergency funds. Mobile clinic doctors found one patient had been going without medicine. “Had our patient not received the medication, she would have had to go to the emergency room,” says Ruiz. The mobile clinic provides care, health education and hygiene kits and go bags, assembled by Americares volunteers.

For organizations addressing the mental health of first responders and other frontline workers, Americares is providing emergency funding to support programs for their unique needs. The mental health programs are designed to help immediately and build capacity so more frontline workers can access mental health services in the near and far term.

“We will continue to help people access health services in the weeks and months to come,” says Americares U.S. Director of Emergency Response Mariel Fonteyn. “The scale of this disaster is immense, and we will provide local health organizations with the resources they need to protect the health of survivors.”

Our team continues to provide hygiene kits, medicine, N95 masks and other critically needed relief supplies for wildfire survivors throughout southern California. To date, Americares has distributed more than 7 tons of medicine and supplies.

When the fires began, Americares immediately contacted more than 70 partners throughout the region, including 24 health organizations in Los Angeles that serve low-income, uninsured patients, and deployed an emergency response team to Los Angeles to deliver aid and coordinate shipments.

Partner clinics and local organizations requested N95 masks and respiratory and chronic disease medications – critical for people who fled their homes without the medicine they need to maintain their health. In response, Americares delivered more than 10,000 masks, and partnered with Primo Brands to deliver five truckloads of water to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank for distribution to area residents.

Americares will continue to collaborate with local organizations to provide critical resources to meet immediate and ongoing urgent needs.

Links:

• Americares Response: California Wildfires