Saturday, October 27, 2007 : Throughout Southern California, central labor councils and union locals are mobilizing to make sure their union brothers and sisters affected by the devastating fires receive all the help they need to get back on their feet. At least 18,000 homes have been destroyed and 14 people killed in the 16 blazes that have ravaged 500,000 acres?an area about twice the size of New York City?over the past six days.
Firefighters at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, members of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 2881, and members of dozens of other locals of the California Professional Firefighters (CPF/IAFF), along with firefighters from neighboring states, are battling the fires that stretch from Santa Barbara County in the north to San Diego and the Mexican border in the south.
At the same time, hundreds of volunteers from the AFL-CIO Community Services Network are fanning out throughout the affected area and seeking out union members in need of help. Of the more than 18,000 homes destroyed by the fires, 15 are confirmed union households. The San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council estimates as many as 100 union households may be affected by the fires.
For more, see
http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/10/26/union-members-help-victims-of-california-fires/