L.A. wildfire devastation: Here's how to help

As major wildfires raged unchecked and destroyed hundreds of structures in the L.A. area, driven by the worst Santa Ana winds to hit the region in more than a decade, organizations and residents stepped up to the plate Wednesday to help those affected.

The winds were fueling multiple brush fires in the L.A. area, the largest being a nearly 16,000-acre blaze in Pacific Palisades. Another massive brush fire in the Eaton Canyon area above Altadena claimed five lives, while other blazes raged in Sylmar and Acton.

Hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in the blazes, with more than 1,000 buildings believed to have been lost in the Palisades Fire alone.

National Weather Service forecasters said the windstorm was the worst to hit the region since 2011.

Here is a list of places to help:

-- Screen Actors Guild: To support impacted members of the SAG community, donations can be made to the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, which operates a natural disaster relief fund, members.sagfoundation.org/donate;

-- GoFundMe: Wildfire relief sites include hundreds of residents who lost their homes to the fires and hope to rebuild, www.gofundme.com/s?q=wildfires;

-- The Red Cross-Wildfire Relief: Financial donations to the Red Cross help people affected by disasters, https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/

-- The Salvation Army: Donating Goods: Basic items are always a necessity for disaster survivors. Wildfire survivors most often need masks, bandanas, work gloves, and other protective clothing, bottled water and other packaged drinks, boxes, barrels, and heavy-duty plastic bags, and cleaning items such as rags, mops, brooms, and scrub brushes, among other things. www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/wildfire-relief/;

-- Direct Relief: Direct Relief provides N-95 masks, medicine, and other resources to health care agencies and first responders in wildfire-affected communities, www.directrelief.org/emergency/california-wildfires/; and

-- Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation: Make a Donation: help firefighters and paramedics fighting wildfires across Los Angeles, supportlafd.org/; and

--baby2baby: Providing diapers, food, formula and hygiene products for children and families affected by the fires, https://baby2baby.org/; and

--MusiCares: Providing emergency funds for musicians impacted by the fires including relocation costs, instrument repair/replacement, home damage, medical care, mental health services + more, https://musicares.org/; and

--Sweet Relief Musicians Fund: Accepting donations and applications for musicians and industry workers impacted by fires, https://www.sweetrelief.org/natural-disaster-fund.html; and

--World Central Kitchen: Prepares and serves fresh meals to communities impacted by natural disasters, https://wck.org/relief/california-fires-jan25; and

--California Community Foundation: Supports communities through this critical period with both intermediate recovery and long-term resilience, https://www.calfund.org/funds/wildfire-recovery-fund/; and

--CORE Response: A humanitarian organization that brings immediate relief and recovery to underserved communities across the globe, https://www.coreresponse.org/; and

--LA Food Bank: Accepts food and monetary donations to aid fire victims, https://www.lafoodbank.org/; and

--LA United Way: Assists low-income individuals affected by the fires, https://unitedwayla.org/; and

--California Fire Foundation: Provides emotional and financial assistance to firefighters, https://www.cafirefoundation.org/.

LA Works also has a listing of resources and volunteer opportunities throughout the city for Angelenos to support the communities impacted by the fires, as well as ways to prepare for a disaster.

All Dog Haus locations are inviting all fire fighters in for a free meal. Several pizza places are offering food for fire fighters, first responders, and evacuees including D-Town Pizza, Prince St. Pizza, Mountain Mike's Pizza, Joe's Pizza, Ozzy's Pizza, Jon & Vinny's, Fiorelli Pizza, and Danny Boy's among others.

In response to the devastating windstorm and wildfires across Southern California, Verizon is waiving prepaid and postpaid call/text/data usage incurred from January 9 - January 18, for California’s residents in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. This will bring relief to the thousands of consumer and small business customers* who rely on their mobile devices now more than ever.