Apple Donating Additional Funds to Firefighting Efforts on the West Coast

As wildfires continue to rage across California and Oregon, Apple CEO Tim Cook today announced on Twitter that Apple plans to donate additional money to firefighting and recovery efforts across the West Coast.

creek fire

Image Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press. Creek Fire near Fresno, California

Cook previously announced fire relief donations on August 19, when a lightning storm in Northern California sparked 367 fires, including several major fires that have decimated areas in Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County, Napa County, and Sonoma County.


The original fires caused by lightning have been largely contained, but hot weather and dry conditions have caused other fires to start.

There continue to be serious fires in both Northern and Southern California, such as the Creek Fire in Fresno and Madera that has burned more than 175,000 acres. Southern Oregon is facing a fire that has burned more than a million acres, and hundreds of thousands of acres have been burned in Washington.

Fires on the West Coast are expected to continue through October, a time of the year we've come to know as fire season, with high winds, low humidity, and high temperatures leading to the ignition of dry brush.

Apple has previously donated millions to wildfire relief efforts in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Popular Stories

Apple Glass

Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:21 am PDT by
Google made waves yesterday by showcasing a set of lightweight smart glasses featuring deep Gemini integration and an optional in-lens display. The demo has reignited interest in Apple's own smart glasses project, which has been the subject of rumors for nearly a decade. Here's a recap of where things stand. Current Development Status Apple is actively working on new chips specifically...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Battery Capacity and Weight Allegedly Revealed

Monday May 19, 2025 2:22 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the camera's overall design and thinness, we haven't heard any details about the device's weight and battery capacity until now. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air has a weight ...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
WWDC 2025 Banner

Apple Announces WWDC 2025 Schedule, Including Keynote Time

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a more detailed schedule for its annual developers conference WWDC, which runs from June 9 through June 13. The schedule confirms that Apple's keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream to be available on Apple.com, in the Apple TV app, and on YouTube. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16,...
macOS 16 visionOS Inspired Feature 1

macOS 16: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday May 20, 2025 7:31 am PDT by
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple's annual developer and software-oriented event, is less than three weeks away. We haven't heard a great deal about macOS 16 ahead of its announcement this year, so we could be in for some major surprises when June 9 rolls around. Here's what we know so far about the next major update to Apple's Mac operating system. macOS 16 Name? Every year ...
maxresdefault

OpenAI Buys Jony Ive's AI Startup to 'Completely Reimagine What It Means to Use a Computer'

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:27 am PDT by
OpenAI is acquiring io, the hardware-based AI startup co-created by Jony Ive, OpenAI announced today. Ive has been working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on io for two years, and the duo expects to develop a family of AI devices. In a video shared by OpenAI, Altman and Ive outlined their partnership and what they expect to create as a result of the merger. "I have a growing sense that everything ...
Apple Glasses Purple Feature

Apple Smart Glasses Launching in 2026

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:22 pm PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a set of smart glasses by the end of 2026, reports Bloomberg. The glasses will be comparable to the Meta Ray-Bans and the Android XR glasses that Google showed off earlier this week. Apple's smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, much like the Meta Ray-Bans. The glasses will be able to take photos, record video, provide...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...

Top Rated Comments

gaximus Avatar
61 months ago

I do not understand your kind of humor. And I don't want to.
It wasn’t supposed to be funny. Forrest fires happen all the time In nature, but they usually stay low and burn off the ground brush and dead trees, opening up new ground for trees, and it’s good for the wildlife as well. But since we started putting out fires, the brush gets to large and unwield. Now when a wild fire starts it so big that it burns all the trees and everything.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iReality85 Avatar
61 months ago

Jeebus. That looks like a literal hellscape. Like a Michael Bay after effect.
Indeed. Here's more. ('https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/photos-wildfires-west-coast-california-washington-oregon')

It's unfortunate that we lose so much of the environment due to careless human activity.

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BlazednSleepy Avatar
61 months ago

There are also now just way too many people in “interface” zones, where human habitat brushes up against the wilderness. Too many houses in the hills, too many careless hikers and campers. The population out west has exploded and the land just can’t support it. Throw in climate change and fire suppression and you have a recipe for disaster.
This isn't about fire suppression. This is the fact that we as humans are causing most of the fires to begin with and human caused climate change making wildfires burn for much longer. https://www.nps.gov/articles/wildfire-causes-and-evaluation.htm
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C DM Avatar
61 months ago

Wildfires? Really? Worldwide network of infrared satellites to detect wildfires and extinguish them in five minutes after ignition using seaplanes and helicopters. Capturing pyromaniacs on the spot. End of problem. Forever.
Science fiction can solve a lot of problems.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gaximus Avatar
61 months ago
Ironically these fires are so bad because we are so good at putting out the fires.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BlazednSleepy Avatar
61 months ago

That's exactly right.
California, Oregon and Washington have been "burning to the ground" for millions of years. Total devastation from wild fires has been part of the west coast ecosystem since forever.
Suppressing wild fires only puts off the inevitable and makes it worse the next time around because more fuel gets stockpiled from old growth.
Wildfires are inevitable and "normal". It's horrible of course when homes get burned down and people die.
What a a load of BS. The majority of wildfires today aren't started by nature itself. What's happening isn't just nature taking it course. We as humans are causing most of the wildfires and we as humans are creating a world at which wildfires are far more common than what nature would cause. https://www.nps.gov/articles/wildfire-causes-and-evaluation.htm
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)