Once again a great disaster is occurring on American soil, and once again we all want to help. As the founder of VolunteerFD.org, my phone has literally been ringing off the hook with people who want to help, from volunteering to fight the fires to monetary support and prayers.
The challenge is how can those of us throughout the United States and the rest of the world best help?
The State of California, along with the federal government is doing everything it can to coordinate the efforts.
As always, departments should never self-dispatch and firefighters should only respond if called as part of their mutual aid or federal response plan. You can get details of the response at FEMA's website and the current state of each fire at Cal Fire's site.
In addition, there is a very interesting resource being provided by Google maps that shows the fires, evacuation areas and more.
Keeping informed is just one way of staying involved. While we may not all be able to get hands on, we can stay informed and find other ways to support both our brother firefighters and all of the residents of Southern California.
The best thing to do at this point would be to raise funds to help worthy causes that are helping those in need:
While the Santa Ana winds are shrieking in and wreaking havoc, it is time for the winds to carry in support and prayers from around the globe. And, as ever, check VolunteerFD and FireRescue1 for the very latest updates on the disaster.
