A shocking report from FOX 11 Los Angeles concluded that not a single dollar raised for victims of the California wildfires this year actually went to the victims.
According to FOX 11, over $100 million was raised for families in Southern California who lost everything in the wildfires. Many families left their homes with the clothes on their backs and a few belongings. After the fires subsided and they returned to their properties, all that was left was rubble.
Journalist Sue Pascoe lost her home in the fires. One of her readers, who also lost their home, reached out to Pascoe and asked how she could apply for “fire aid money.”
“I thought, ‘I’ve never thought about that. There’s 12,000 people…12,000 homes gone. Those people probably want to know where the money is,” she said.
Pascoe contacted the Annenberg Foundation, which was overseeing wildfire funds. They never responded. They never answered calls, either.
Weeks later, someone reached out and told her to contact Chris Wallace, the foundation's communications officer.
“I contacted Chris, and I said, ‘You know, victims want to know when they can get their money.’” That’s when Pascoe was told that all the money would go to nonprofits.
“Initially, they gave about $50 million to about 120 nonprofits…I looked at these nonprofits and one of them said ‘We help mobile home parks,’ and there were two mobile home parks in the Palisades…and so I contacted the people there. They had never received any money. They had never heard of that,” she explained.
Pascoe told viewers to look at the list of nonprofits that are recipients of the fire aid, because some of them have nothing to do with redevelopment.
FOX 11 anchor Marla Tellez said that the vetting process for fire aid is “very simple,” calling into question the vetting process.
“I think they’re not helping the victims at all,” Pascoe said. “They don’t say how much each individual nonprofit gets.”
🚨 Fire victims lost everything, but not a single dollar from the $100 MILLION raised ever reached them.
— California Republican Party (@CAGOP) July 21, 2025
California Democrats funneled it to nonprofits instead.
This is what corruption looks like. Thank you @FOXLA, @MarlaTellez, and Sue Pascoe for exposing it. pic.twitter.com/FbYTzjdq8I
Tellez pointed out that they have reached out to California Attorney General Rob Bonta over this matter.
“This fire aid money is not helping the people. It’s helping nonprofits. Many of them who have executives who are getting a six-figure salary. The money is not going to the victims that you wanted the money to go to,” Pascoe said.