2025 California Wildfires Special Appeal

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What happened?

On January 7, 2025, wildfire activity began in Los Angeles County, California. The blazes continued for several days fueled by Santa Ana winds in excess of 80 mph. These fires burned over 57,660 acres and claimed an estimated 29 lives.  

Who was impacted?

The Altadena Community Church United Church of Christ, in Altadena, CA was destroyed by the Eaton fire. Although this was the only church lost in the fire, the broader Altadena community and several neighborhoods throughout LA County also experienced devastating loss from these wildfires and face a multi-year road to recovery. Based on conversations with Southern California Nevada Conference staff, we know that many in this community were either uninsured or underinsured and will need additional resources in order to rebuild.

How are we responding?

The National Ministries of the United Church of Christ (NMUCC) is committed to accompanying communities that have been impacted by climate-caused disasters throughout the entire long-term recovery process. We recognize that this process often takes many years after disasters have faded from daily news cycles. Beginning in the hours after a disaster strikes, our goal is to ensure that communities have access to the resources that they need. We do this by connecting with local clergy, associations and conference staff, ecumenical partners and Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADs). As communities begin to move into longer-term recovery, we continue to collaborate with other ecumenical and community partners to ensure that communities are well supported throughout the recovery process.

In the early days of the California Wildfires the NMUCC’s Disaster Ministries team worked closely with conference staff from the Southern California Nevada Conference, participated in daily and weekly VOAD coordination calls, and engaged in ongoing conversation with conference leadership. These efforts helped to connect local communities with an abundance of immediate relief resources. Through early conversations, it became clear that there is significant concern about the impacted region’s capacity to sustain long-term recovery efforts. This is an area the UCC has a long history of supporting and is committed to supporting here.

Rolling Highlights of Recovery Initiatives

Grants Distributed