The best coverage I've found of the California wildfire disaster is at the Los Angeles Times, with updated news stories, blogs and many devastating photographs.The LA Times has posted links to charities taking donations to assist those displaced and affected by the fires. Their page should update as more information becomes available. I will also update this post to include other related information as it comes in.
Update: Tips from other law blogs: You can donate directly to the San Diego Chapter of the American Red Cross (hat tip Truth on the Market), or to Catholic Charities in LA or San Diego, which broadly serves the poor, not just Catholics (hat tip Bainbridge).
10/25 Update: From the LA Times: The McCormick Tribune Foundation has teamed up with partners in California to create two fire relief campaigns, one in the San Diego area and one in the Los Angeles area. The Foundation will match at least the first $500,000 raised for each campaign at fifty cents on the dollar. Additional matching funds will be made available based on fundraising response. All donations, plus the match, will go directly to agencies supporting disaster response and recovery efforts for those affected by the fires, as the Foundation and its partners cover all administrative costs. [Note: the direct link from the LA Times webpage does not work at this writing. Use the links from this blog, or google the foundation.]
Personal update: Because I've gotten queries, a personal note: My home in LA is not affected. It is in Santa Monica, not near the LA fire area. I am away in Princeton this year, and far from all of this, and my daughter is in high school in the Boston area.
From having grown up around Southern California wildfires, I can say that folks in the entire region will be affected for some time, even those whose homes are not directly threatened. And it is not just wealthy Malibu homeowners who will be homeless. Many middle and working class families in California urban areas move to surrounding communities, to fire danger areas, to find more affordable housing. These disasters come in two waves. First the fire, then the mudslides and flooding with the first rainfall, when there is no vegetation to hold back hillsides. Southern California communities, and our colleagues in the region, will need support from the rest of the country long after the fires die down.
