Thousands of first responders were honored at Dodger Stadium for their bravery and selflessness during the recent wildfires in Southern California on Tuesday. The event had activities, games, food, and music, and provided essential supplies like clothing, footwear, and toys.
“This is a great event to give back to the people of Los Angeles for the hard times they’ve gone through these last couple of months,” said LA County Fire Department employee Valerie Gibson.
Within a day of the wildfires starting, 7,500 first responders were deployed to fight these unprecedented fires in Los Angeles, according to the state of California’s website.
“It’s nice to be supported in the community after a rough start to the year, but it’s good to see all these companies come together and support us,” said Brandon Larsen, a firefighter for the L.A. County Fire Department.
Companies from all over the United States have come together to clean up the wildfire debris. Chris Layfield, an employee of Reservo, a fire and water restoration cleanup company, said they came from out of state for this event.
“We’re out [of] just north of Nashville, Tennessee, so we’re a part of today’s events, partnered up with the First Responders Children’s Foundation to learn more about what’s been going on with the fires,” said Layfield.
Another company, Carrier Air Conditioning, assisted by donating 2.5 million dollars worth of air purifiers, all of which will go to first responders.
More than 18,000 structures were destroyed by the fires, according to Cal Fire. Lana Saucedo was among the many who lost their home in the Eaton fire.
“I lost my home in the Eaton Fire. I’ve been there for 35 years, and my son is a firefighter, and my other four kids lost everything, too.”
Saucedo said that she came to the event to “get the essentials and say thank you to everybody.”
L.A. City County Fire Department Captain and canine handler Roman Sanchez brought K9s Cooper and Willow to the event as a “support team.”
“We use [Cooper and Willow] as ice breakers. You get people that just tend to shut down and want to cross their arms and don’t want to talk about what’s going on, and when we walk in with the dogs, the dogs do all the work.” Sanchez said. “[People] open up and want to have a conversation.”
First Responders Children’s Foundation is accepting donations on its website to support first responder families impacted by the Southern California wildfires.