Southern California communities coming together in wildfire devastation

AccuWeather

Communities tragically impacted by the Southern California wildfires are coming together as AccuWeather's Ali Reid reports donations were being made to victims in need of assistance after the fires.

Transcript

00:00We're going to continue our coverage right now with Allie Reed and she joins us live from

00:05Pasadena. I believe she should still be in Pasadena for us this morning and now that we

00:10see the sun up and Allie I know you're anxious for us to be able to see the operations going

00:14on behind you and just so many crews out there right now. Right ladies we are live from Pasadena

00:22this morning at the Rose Bowl the iconic historic Rose Bowl directly behind me here on a typical

00:29week you would see a major event happening here maybe a college football game but a very

00:34different scenario this time around over the last couple of days behind me there are thousands of

00:41first responders, crews, police officers, you name it they are here. This has become the central base

00:47camp for the Eaton wildfire and on top of that there are still hundreds if not thousands of

00:53families in this community alone that are sleeping in tents overnight to utilize the resources here

00:59in this facility. Take a look at some of the videos on your screen right now this just gives

01:04you the idea of the sheer type of just staggering devastation that Altadena has brought right entire

01:12neighborhoods just 10 minutes away from where we are have been reduced to ash with little to no

01:18homes still standing the Eaton wildfire has torched over 14,000 acres and has destroyed over

01:257,000 buildings and tragically and has claimed the lives of 15 people in this community alone

01:31the scenes there are haunting unfortunately families are still not able to get back to that

01:36area making streets an eerie ghost town the destruction is truly overwhelming but in the

01:41face of tragedy this community is rallying together like never before residents have mobilized swiftly

01:48to support those affected donations of blankets clothing first aid kits and other essentials are

01:53pouring in to help victims of both the Eaton and Palisades fires one remarkable effort comes from

01:58a local 14 year old Avery Colvert who launched the Altadena teen girls fire recovery initiative

02:04inspired by the loss her own community has endured Avery's group is gathering donations

02:09of beauty and hair products fragrances feminine products as well as new clothing

02:13the effort quickly gained momentum growing up to 38,000 followers over a few days on social media

02:20alone the goal is to help girls affected by the fire regain a sense of confidence and normalcy

02:25amidst the chaos victims just like 18 year old Anaya Cartier and her family who lost everything

02:32it's amazing to see people out here working and helping others I feel like definitely on social

02:39media there can be a lot of negativity and I just really appreciate the people that really take the

02:46time to post resources because that's how I found out about this was people posting it it's a blessing

02:52we have a stable house that we can stay in until with our family until you know we are back up on

02:57our feet again it is going to take time but I mean having this definitely makes it better

03:05and you'll see Anaya in this video now on your screen she was able to shop around the donation

03:11center picking out essential items for herself her siblings all got to grab important pieces too

03:17now after speaking to her family they asked if we could go check on their home in Altadena

03:21as they've received no updates on the status of it since evacuating unfortunately the video you

03:27are now seeing on your screen is her family home it did not withstand the Eaton fire

03:33they like many families right now will look to determine what's next in the coming days

03:38weeks and months we bring you back live to the rose rose bowl the iconic bowl just behind me here

03:44again lots of movement this morning ladies I mentioned when the sun would come up here on the

03:50west coast that we were going to see a lot of it and certainly that has happened behind me

03:55that is because through the night again all of these first responders these firefighters

04:01these officers you name it they're here they were sleeping on the ground here through these

04:07bitter cold temperatures in the night just to make sure that these families that they're

04:12catering to right now are getting everything that they possibly could need and I think that is

04:17something so remarkable at a time when there is so much devastation I hope you can hear us if not

04:24we can just continue to move on but obviously the sound of the fire engines that was kind of

04:29alarming to me are there are there new emergencies ongoing I'm not is that something you've been

04:33hearing or do you think that was kind of a fresh sound of something new happening

04:38I will check on that when we when we wrap here but you know what was interesting is staying in

04:43our hotel room overnight I got very little sleep and that is okay right we know that there are

04:48people dealing with a lot worse than any condition that I may be going through but I will say

04:53over the last couple of hours helicopters have been roaming throughout the sky you could hear

04:58fire engines ambulance constantly through the night and that is because they're catering to

05:05so many situations so many families right now as for what that was that just passed me I do not

05:10know for sure but I'm sure it has something to do with them just catering to the families right now

05:16and getting to different locations around here and also still working out those hot spots too

05:21that has been a big factor as we've been talking about over the last 24 hours understood thanks

05:26for breaking that down that it's a sound that you're still hearing a lot of course as the

05:29situation is unfolding. Allie Reed excellent job reporting for us and we appreciate you

05:34being out there in Pasadena.

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