All 12 Los Angeles-area professional sports teams donate $8 million to fire relief efforts

All 12 professional sports teams in the Los Angeles area are coming together amid the massive fires that have devastated the region in recent days.

The teams — Angel City FC, the Angels, Chargers, Clippers, Dodgers, Ducks, Galaxy, Kings, LAFC, Lakers, Rams and Sparks — pledged to donate more than $8 million to support both victims of the Southern California fires and first responders fighting them.

The money will be spread out among several organizations, including the American Red Cross, the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, World Central Kitchen, various local animal rescue organizations and more. Fanatics has also partnered with the teams to distribute $3 million in merchandise to families that have been evacuated from their homes, and teams will be distributing items and supplies to those families on Friday at Dodger Stadium, SoFi Stadium and BMO Stadium. The apparel company has also launched a series of “LA Strong” shirts that will benefit both the American Red Cross and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.

A series of fires erupted across the Los Angeles area last week. The two largest fires, one in the Pacific Palisades and the Eaton fire in Pasadena and Altadena, have killed at least 25 people as of Monday morning, according to The Los Angeles Times. The death toll is expected to keep rising.

The Palisades fire has burned more than 23,700 acres and was only 14% contained as of Monday afternoon. That fire has burned more than 5,300 structures — including the homes of Lakers coach J.J. Redick and Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr’s mother. Clippers star Kawhi Leonard left the team last week to be with his family after they had to evacuate, too. The Eaton fire has burned more than 14,117 acres and destroyed about 7,000 structures.

The National Weather Service issued a warning for a “particularly dangerous situation” on Monday, too, as wind gusts ranging between 45-70 mph are expected in the coming days.

The NFL playoff game between the Rams and the Minnesota Vikings set for Monday night was relocated to Arizona as a result of the fires. Both the Lakers and the Clippers will resume playing home games on Monday after the fires postponed games last week. The Lakers dedicated Monday’s game against the Spurs to the Los Angeles community, and launched a drive to encourage fans to bring supplies to the arena.