Southern California Braces for Peak Fire Risk as Santa Ana Winds Arrive

Over the past week, Direct Relief sent 344 shipments of requested medical aid, containing 6.4 million defined daily doses of medication, to organizations across 39 U.S. states and territories and 18 other countries.

Shipments sent this week included rare disease medications, HPV vaccines, cancer therapies, diabetes treatments, antibiotics, and Direct Relief Midwife Kits.

Direct Relief Monitoring Red Flag Conditions in California

Southern California is bracing for the season's first major Santa Ana wind event, with red flag warnings in effect across much of the Los Angeles area Thursday and Friday. Forecasters expect winds to gust as high as 70 mph in the mountains, with lower-lying valleys seeing gusts in the 40 to 60 mph range. The western side of the region, which missed out on recent rainfall from a tropical storm, is especially vulnerable, while utilities are weighing rolling power shutoffs, particularly around Malibu, to prevent damaged lines from sparking new fires.

A brush fire dubbed the Peak Fire broke out Thursday in Azusa, north of San Gabriel Canyon Road. Direct Relief is monitoring the fire as conditions develop.

Based in California, Direct Relief has a long history of responding to wildfires across the state, including the devastating Los Angeles-area fires in January 2025. The organization maintains a stockpile of critical medications and supplies often requested during wildfires, including respiratory health medications, N95 respirators, chronic disease management medications, and personal protective equipment, to address health needs such as worsened respiratory and cardiovascular conditions from smoke exposure and medication access issues during evacuations.

Direct Relief is monitoring the conditions and will respond if any medical needs become known.

17-Pallet Shipment Supports Healthcare Network in Syria

A 17-pallet shipment containing nearly $2 million in medicines and medical supplies has been sent to the Independent Doctors Association, or IDA, a humanitarian medical organization based in Gaziantep, Turkey, that supports healthcare delivery across Syria. The shipment includes medicine and supplies that address a broad range of needs, from infectious disease treatment and oncology to cardiovascular care, anesthesia, chronic disease management, and reproductive health.

IDA operates 52 healthcare facilities and service sites, including hospitals, primary healthcare centers, mobile clinics, vaccination centers, and specialized facilities such as cholera treatment centers and a tuberculosis treatment center, serving communities where displacement, damaged infrastructure, and prolonged instability have made access to healthcare especially difficult.

"A hospital, a mobile clinic, or a primary healthcare center can be the difference between someone receiving timely treatment and having nowhere to turn," said Laila Mizrahi, Direct Relief's Program Officer for the Middle East & North Africa.

Operational Snapshot

United States

Direct Relief sent 298 shipments weighing 21,167 pounds and containing 468,704 defined daily doses of medication.

Around the World

Outside the U.S., Direct Relief sent 5.9 million defined daily doses of medication, weighing 38,876 pounds.

In the News

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