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On the morning of Jan. 7, an enormous, dark column of smoke appeared in the blue skies above Malibu, Calif.
It was just the first sign of what would grow into one of several wildfires consuming thousands of acre—eventually destroying 16,000 homes, businesses and other structures and killing 29 people.
For REALTOR® associations in California, it was also time to swing into action. “Most of us had received evacuation orders the evening of the seventh and early hours of the eighth,” says Rian Barrett, CEO of Pasadena Foothills Association of REALTORS®, whose staff and members were affected by the Altadena and Eaton Canyon fires. Leadership and staff who were safe and able “went into remote work so that we would be available to anyone needing PFAR resources.”
That work included:
- Updating the PFAR board twice a day with new information and providing debriefs
- Starting a resource page on the PFAR website and sharing updates through social media and email
- Compiling a list of staff and members who lost homes or had uninhabitable homes, which began with 20 and quickly grew to 70
- Calling each member to check in and providing information on the California Association of REALTORS® Disaster Relief Fund as a resource
Other local associations also joined in the effort. “A few association executives put out a request for a ‘cash not crap’ fundraiser to all the California AORs,” says Barrett. “We used our 501(c)3 to hold any funds received and purchased gift cards to give out to anyone impacted by fires, first to members and then to the community at large.”
PFAR would go on to create a resource center where member volunteers used their knowledge to share information on available housing. They also handed out food, clothing and other necessities, collaborating with local government. Barrett says they helped more than 75 families in the first 17 days of running the resource center, “disbursing resources and gift cards to our members and the community.”
As of April 14, Barrett says PFAR has helped support 62 members and their families, “but we learn of new ones every day.” Among others, both PFAR President Lynnette West-Cater and her mother lost their homes; association secretary Hazel Perera was one of three families in her neighborhood affected as the fire jumped and moved in an unexpected pattern; and the Shakoor family, which includes 16 people and two generations of real estate professionals, lost multiple homes and two business offices.
Fires were fully contained as of the end of January. But PFAR and other associations’ work isn’t done. In the aftermath, with so much rebuilding to be done, says Barrett, “we’re working to create legislation and partner with the cities to expand our reach.”
