As it prepares to further assist with recovery and response work in response to the California wildfires, veteran-led humanitarian nonprofit Team Rubicon has activated an emergency operations center (EOC) out of its LA headquarters.
Already the disaster relief nonprofit has completed one operation, providing logistical support to the Riverside County Emergency Management Department.
Volunteers from the organization—known as Greyshirts—are also preparing to assist with road debris removal in and around LA County. There, Greyshirt heavy equipment operators and trained chainsaw operators can be utilized to clear roadways, freeing up fire crews and allowing them to stay in the fight.
“Currently, we’re identifying gaps where our Greyshirts can tackle tasks that either free up resources for frontline firefighters or restore resources to areas that are seeing assets diverted to support the active fires,” says Drew Hanna, Director of Branch Operations for Team Rubicon. That has included tackling vegetative debris clearance in San Bernardino, such as removing downed trees from roadways—work typically handled by the fire department whose units are getting diverted to the active fires—and some decompression assistance in Riverside County, where the Tyler Fire is contained, but where typical support resources are currently being triaged to the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst areas.
Team Rubicon and its volunteers don’t fight fires. Instead, the organization focuses on assigning Greyshirts to support and accomplish other necessary tasks, thus reducing the strain on first responders.
“One of the most important things to ensure is that we allow the emergency services to continue to fight the fires. These fires are uncontained, and we must avoid complicating their mission in any way, as their primary focus needs to remain on containing and extinguishing the blaze,” says Team Rubicon CEO Art delaCruz. “Our jobs will be to make it easier for firefighters to do theirs.”
As readies to support California wildfire responses, Team Rubicon is communicating with local emergency managers and VOAD partners to determine the most effective assistance it can provide for those impacted by the wildfires.
Because Team Rubicon has thousands of local Greyshirt volunteers across Southern California trained in everything from emergency management and logistical support to heavy equipment operation, it expects to stand up support operations as soon as request for assistance are received and approved, and will remain in the region for the indefinite future to assist communities and survivors with long term recovery.
Wildfire support, recovery, and mitigation work are increasingly becoming core services Team Rubicon provides. Team Rubicon has previously assisted wildfire survivors with wind damage clean-up, point of distribution support, EOC support, and logistical wrap-around services. In response to the Hawaii wildfires in 2023, Team Rubicon launched multiple operations, including providing essential supplies, medical care, and shelter to affected communities; and conducting debris removal and cleanup operations that allowed communities to begin the process of recovery and rebuilding. And, in 2024, Greyshirts completed 45 mitigation projects across Southern California alone.
Mobilizing: California Wildfires
