Los Angeles Wildfire Resources (Page last updated 2-13-25)

ACSO continues to extend our deepest sympathy and solidarity to all those affected by the wildfires. We have compiled resources to support our Los Angeles-area individual members, and orchestras and music organizations that have musicians, staff, board members, or patrons who may have been affected by the recent wildfires.

We will prioritize resources for the music community and continue to update this list as we get new information.

Some of the following opportunities and resources may no longer be available. Please visit the link included in each opportunity to view the current program details. 

Are you aware of a resource not listed here? Email us at [email protected].   

 LA-Area Orchestra and Music Org Leaders: Take ACSO's Wildfire Impact Survey to help us understand the scope of impact of the fires on your organization so that we better know how to support and advocate for you.

If you are an individual artist, cultural or creative worker, performing group, or if you represent an arts organization or cultural institution, and you were impacted by the fires, take the Rapid Impact Assessment survey. Administered by the National Coalition for Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER), the  survey data will help identify where assistance is sought, provide assistance where needed, understand critical needs, and inform how recovery efforts progress.

• FEMA: Long-term support may be available for those impacted by the fires here. Public Assistance Grants are currently available for Category A (debris removal) and Category B (emergency protective measures, including direct technical assistance) in LA County and can be accessed here.
• LA County Recovers: Access local, state, federal and non-profit recovery resources in one location
• Public Counsel’s Fire Relief and Recovery Services for LA County
• LA County Department of Arts and Culture: disaster relief resources for the arts and culture community
  
• California Arts Council Disaster Relief & Emergency Preparedness

• Emergency FINANCIAL AND OTHER resources for MUSICIANS AND music orgs

• LA Arts Community Fire Relief Fund (deadline is Feb 18): The fund is for the benefit of Los Angeles County’s artists and arts workers in all disciplines impacted by the unprecedented wildfire crisis. Funds are unrestricted and can be used in any way that alleviates financial hardship.
  
  
• Artist and Creative Workers Mutual Aid Wildfire Resources from Arts for LA: list of arts, culture, and entertainment organizations who can provide goods, resources, and services to artists, musicians, and creative workers, including grants, financials support, rehearsal space, and instrument storage. If your organization has resources to offer, add them to the list to reach artists and creative workers who have been impacted.
  
  
• Local 47 Musicians Relief Fund: apply for financial assistance or DONATE to impacted musicians
  
  

• Lester Petrillo Memorial Fund: provides a modest grant to temporarily or permanently disabled musicians who are members of the AFM.

• FEMA: funds to repair or replace disaster-damaged tools and equipment required for musicians who have lost instruments.

• Entertainment Community Fund: If you’re a part of the entertainment industry and have been impacted by the LA Fires, the Fund is here to help through support, connection to resources and emergency financial assistance. Find out more here. Find wildfire-specific resources here. 

• MusiCares: provides crisis relief, preventive care, recovery resources, and need-based financial assistance for people across all music professions. Find out more here, or email MusiCares Relief to obtain grant relief forms for consideration of aid here.

• Musicians Foundation: provides financial grants to professional musicians that help pay essential bills. Professional musicians in specific periods of need, crisis, and transition can apply.
  
  

• New York Foundation for the Arts: provides a list of emergency resources, grants, public assistance, and housing resources for artists on its website.

• Sweet Relief Musicians Fund Natural Disaster Relief Fund Application: immediate financial assistance to music industry professionals impacted by natural disasters. You can also DONATE to this fund.
  
  
• Support the Music Community: Crowd-sourced list of GoFundMe's for musicians (300+) and music-specific relief resources.
  
  
• Music Health Alliance 2025 California Fire Relief Resources: provides healthcare advocacy and support to the nationwide community. 
  
  
• Backline: mental health and wellness resources for music industry professionals and their families
  
  
• Free Concert Clothing Co-op is a resource organized by musicians for musicians, offering free, pre-loved, gently used concert clothing and accessories.
  
  
• The Music Center's Free Work and Rehearsal Space for Arts Orgs: The Music Center, in collaboration with resident companies, LA Opera and LA Phil, is offering free work and rehearsal spaces at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to arts and cultural organizations, collectives, and groups that have been displaced by the fires.
  
  
• Guitar Center Music Foundation: grants for music creator who need to replace instruments and/or gear due to the LA Wildfires
  
  
• NAMM Foundation has committed $50,000 towards needs-based assistance to NAMM members, employees of NAMM member companies, music education programs, and music makers.
  
  
• RSC Associates is providing free consultation to arts organizations impacted by the wildfires. With 20 years of experience helping arts leaders navigate crises, we can troubleshoot fundraising, ticketing, promotions, or messaging challenges. Click here to schedule. 
  
  

• National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER) library of free tools and resources provides current information and guidance on the most pressing readiness and response needs of arts leaders, including An Arts Field Guide to Federal Disaster Relief, created to help demystify federal disaster relief for the arts and culture sector by helping artists and arts organizations see what’s available, understand clearly what isn’t available, and decide if pursuing federal aid is a good use of time. 

• Performing Arts Readiness offers grants, webinars, case studies, and The Art of Mass Gatherings initiative which provides emergency preparedness training for festivals and outdoor events.

• Emergency Resources for Small Business

• LA Region Small Business Relief Fund Grant Program: offers grants from $2,000 to $25,000 to eligible small businesses and nonprofits (including home-based businesses and independent contractors)

• U.S. Small Business Administration: SBA disaster assistance for homeowners, renters, nonprofits, and businesses of all sizes affected by the wildfires and straight-line winds in California. 

• California Office of Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA): Support and resources for Los Angeles area wildfire recovery for small businesses and nonprofits.

• California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank): For small business and nonprofit disaster relief loan guarantees.

• California Department of Insurance (CDI): Explore insurance-related resources and assistance for wildfire victims.
  
  
• CA Employment Development Department (EDD) provides a variety of services to individuals and businesses impacted by disasters in California. These range from assistance for those who may have lost a job due to the disaster, to employers who are forced to shut down operations. EDD staff located throughout the state are often called upon to lend a hand at Local Assistance Centers (LACs) established by the California Office of Emergency Services (OES). They provide assistance with filing claims for UI benefits, as well as job search assistance and other more general support and referrals to resources.
  
  

• Donate/Help

• Los Angeles Philharmonic Association has set up a fund specifically to aid members of the LA music community, including performing arts staff at The Music Center and across the County who have lost their homes in the fires. Donations to the Los Angeles Music Fund can be made here.
• Long Beach Symphony has established the Musicians Fire Disaster Relief Fund to provide vital support to its orchestra musicians who have lost their homes or been displaced by the fires. Donate here.
• Pasadena Symphony Instrument Drive for its youth orchestra students who lost their instruments in the fire and for its partner school, Elliots Arts Magnet, which maintained a large instrument library for PUSD. Learn more here.

Message from ACSO Executive Director

January 9, 2025

Dear ACSO Community,

To those of you who live in the Los Angeles area or who have been affected by the wildfires in any way, we hope you and your loved ones are safe.

There are no words to describe the devastation and sadness that we have felt over the past two days and our hearts go out to those whose lives have been upended, including members of our own ACSO board and staff family.

ACSO has been reaching out to LA-area members and we repeatedly hear that nearly every orchestra has staff, board, or musicians who have been evacuated and/or lost homes. The scale of loss is enormous and is yet to be fully understood.

What we learned during the pandemic holds true for this disaster - it will be by coming together as a community and supporting one another that we will get through. The ACSO community is strong and connected; please check on your colleagues and friends and offer assistance.

To the leaders of LA-area orchestras and music organizations, if your organizations or teams have been impacted, please contact us so that we can understand the impact on our community and help connect you to resources and each other.

We hope these resources will help you or can be forwarded to help your loved ones.

Music will offer solace and respite during what will surely be a long recovery process, so what you do for your communities continues to remain essential.

Stay safe,

Sarah Weber
ACSO Executive Director