Apple Donating Additional Funds to Firefighting Efforts on the West Coast

Friday September 11, 2020 11:11 am PDT by Juli Clover

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.

Apple is making additional donations to firefighting and recovery across the West Coast. Our hearts are with those that have lost so much. The fires are an urgent reminder that we must act together to protect the planet we all share. — Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 11, 2020

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.

Top Rated Comments

gaximus

40 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

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

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

C DM

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.

Ironically these fires are so bad because we are so good at putting out the fires.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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

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