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How to help victims of the western wildfires

Wildfires are consuming the forests of California and Oregon, darkening the skies over San Francisco and Portland, destroying property and putting a strain on economic activity already singed by the coronavirus pandemic.

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As Wildfires Burn Out of Control, the West Coast Faces the Unimaginable
Wildfires are consuming the forests of California and Oregon, darkening the skies over San Francisco and Portland, destroying property and putting a strain on economic activity already singed by the coronavirus pandemic.

In California, nearly 17,000 firefighters are battling 29 major wildfires. Since mid-August the blazes have destroyed 4,100 buildings and killed 24 people in the state. Fires have engulfed 3.3 million acres of land in California this year -- desolation greater in size than Connecticut.

The remains of Berry Creek Elementary School in the aftermath of the West Zone Fire, part of the North Complex Fire, in Berry Creek, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. Oregon, Washington and California are all under assault from a wildfire season of historic proportions, with the firefighting effort compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and misinformation online. (Max Whittaker/The New York Times)
America's large relief organizations – the Red Cross, Salvation Army and United Way – are accepting donations.

Up and down the west coast, local organizations are also finding ways to help those who have lost everything, those forced to seek shelter outside the fire zone and the firefighters and other first responders who are risking their lives to bring the fires under control.

NBC affiliate KGW8 partnered with the Red Cross and U.S. Bank to raise money to support the work the American Red Cross is providing to families that have been displaced or impacted by the active and growing wildfires.
Smoke from the El Dorado Fire in Angelus Oaks, Calif., fills the sky Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020. The wildfires raging on the West Coast became an all but inescapable crisis around the country on Tuesday, with at least 27 people dead in three states, fires and evacuations starting in Idaho, milky smoke clouding the skies over Michigan and haze reaching as far as New York City. (Eric Thayer/The New York Times)
The California Fire Foundation supports firefighters and their families and provides aid to victims of fires and other natural disasters.
Direct Relief provides N-95 masks, medicine, and other resources to healthcare agencies and first responders in wildfire-affected communities.
California Community Fund supports both mid-term to long-term recovery and rebuilding efforts for those affected by California wildfires.
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