Hope is On the Way: X Users Send Aid to California to Make Wildfire Recovery Less Gruel-ing
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Hope is On the Way: X Users Send Aid to California to Make Wildfire Recovery Less Gruel-ing

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Six wildfires continue to burn in Southern California. The Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, the Hurst Fire, the Olivas Fire, the Lidia Fire, and the Woodly Fire all remain out of control. Fox News reports that at least four of these fires (if not all) are still zero percent contained as firefighters struggle against high winds and a lack of resources to battle the blazes. A seventh fire in Runyon Canyon has also been reported. Mutual aid is beginning to arrive from Arizona, Oregon, the US Military, and Canada.  An untold number of homes, businesses, and schools have been destroyed. At least five people died, and several have been injured.





Thousands of people have already been evacuated, many of whom have lost everything. Tens of thousands are without power. Reports suggest that evacuation orders may soon extend to Santa Monica, a city of ninety thousand residents. The damage caused by these fires is being called apocalyptic, and the scope of the disaster is catastrophic.

The humanitarian need in Southern California is going to be enormous. Thousands need food, water, shelter, and basic necessities, and there may be thousands more before it’s over. Disaster relief organizations like the Red Cross are already operating in the area. Joe Biden, after announcing the arrival of his great-grandchild, declared SoCal a federal disaster area.

As you might imagine, FEMA doesn’t instill a lot of confidence after their recent performance in North Carolina.

In the coming days and weeks, the needs in SoCal may overwhelm the available resources. Neighbors are already stepping up to help neighbors to alleviate the need.

Airbnb is coordinating with LA County and offering temporary shelter to those displaced by the fires.

Access to the temporary shelter can be obtained via 211LA, here.

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Jeff Gross is a local pharmacy owner who is providing medications for fire victims who were forced to flee their homes without them.

Annie Harvilicz is a veterinarian who has taken in over forty displaced animals.

Andrew and Lauren Gruel own the Calico Fish House restaurant on the Pacific Coast Highway, about thirty miles south of the fires. They have been working tirelessly since the fires began.





It wasn’t long before the Gruels were coordinating efforts to deliver much-needed supplies to first responders and victims in the affected areas.

X users immediately responded.





There were literally hundreds of replies to the Gruel’s request for supplies. Those in the area stopped by and dropped off what they could. The restaurant soon became a warehouse of sorts, and the Gruels got to work loading a rented box truck to deliver the first load of supplies.

Even their kids worked to load the truck.

So many people who do not have much to give are giving everything that they can. Their generosity will make a world of difference to many people who need everything.





Don’t worry, they are helping the animals too.

Andrew and Lauren Gruel are good people, doing everything they can to help those in need. The X users doing what they can to support their efforts are as well. Efforts like these do not just provide a meal and basic necessities; they provide hope in a situation that can seem hopeless.

When a wildfire has taken all that you have, hope can mean everything. 






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