First Responder Volunteers are the first in need during a disaster. This is a confusing element for good willing people that do not know all of the details involved because many will find that their donations are turned away and denied when they try to deliver them. This is because by the time that a disaster hits the news and it is commonly known, an incident management team has probably already taken over.
Incident Management Teams are contracted with the government. They all have contracts with distributors. All of the direct government employed and some of the private companies with independent contracts have contracts that do not allow them to accept donations or bring in other suppliers. These groups, we offer individual assistance to if it is needed, but typically they have the resources to be able to get their needs met.
In the first 24-72 hours after a wildfire is reported, the responders are almost always volunteers. Even supporting the initial responders can be a confusing situation to navigate though. Not all departments are volunteer and SOME are set up similarly to how State and Federal agencies are where they are not actually in need of extra support.
HOWEVER, that being said, the majority of wildfires start in rural areas where rural communities dispatch volunteers to begin the initial fight until the larger departments with more resources are able to relieve them. These are the departments we give our aid to. These departments do not have the funding to be able to pay their firefighters who are volunteering to place their own lives in the line of danger in order to protect the rest of us, much less provide water, electrolytes, high calorie bars, etc. for them. We reach out to the fire chiefs and find out if there are any specific needs related to their specific department. In the past, these specific requests have ranged from feminine hygiene products to new boots for someone that melted their boots and needed a new pair ASAP. The other items on this list such as soap, wet wipes, etc. are for the long term responders that are independently contracted, but are not provided these items by their employers.
| Firefighter Needs (Everything must be new) | Size |
| Socks | Any |
| Underwear | Any |
| Wet Wipes | Pocket or Travel |
| Deodorant | Pocket or Travel |
| Soap | Pocket or Travel |
| Shampoo | Pocket or Travel |
| Toothpaste | Pocket or Travel |
| Toothbrush | Pocket or Travel |
| Tissues | Pocket or Travel |
| Gatorade/Juice/Water (individual beverages) | Individual Servings |
| Protein bars | Individual Servings |
| Batteries | Any |
| Laundry Detergent | Pods or Individual Packets |
| Feminine Hygiene Products | Any |
| Eye Drops | Pocket or Travel |
| Cough Drops | Any |
| Mole Skin | Pocket or Travel |
| ChapStick | Any |
| Work Gloves | Any |
| Electrolyte Tablets/Powder | Individual Packets |
The next step in the Disaster Response process is taking care of the people and animals that are displaced because of the natural disaster.
One issue we run into more often than you might imagine is people wanting to all donate the exact same items. For an example, if 50 people are displaced, we do not need 500 toothbrushes and only 5 sticks of deodorant. Because this predicament tends to be more common than most people realize, Relief Angels volunteer to transport surplus donations from one disaster to another so that if a distribution center in Northern California has too many duffle bags and not enough diapers and another center in Eastern Oregon has the opposite issue, our volunteers swap the surplus donations around so that all survivors have access to exactly what they need and the distribution centers are not overwhelmed and inodiated with items that they do not actually need.
Below is a list of the most commonly needed items derived from nearly every disaster we have encountered since our initial aid provided to our first community in 2005.
| People Displaced by a Disaster Needs | Size |
| Ash Sifting Screens | Any |
| Travel First Aid Kits | Travel |
| Sealed Medications (Tylenol, Tums, Etc) | Travel or Individual |
| Batteries | Any |
| Phone Chargers | Any |
| USB Power Banks | Any |
| Dish Soap | Pocket or Travel |
| Laundry Detergent | Pocket or Travel |
| Toilet Paper | Any |
| Paper Towels | Any |
| Socks | Any |
| Underwear | Any |
| Cleaning Supplies (chemicals) | Any |
| Cleaning Supplies (rags, SOS pads, Sponges) | Any |
| Feminine Hygiene Products | Any |
| Backpacks/Duffle bags | Any |
| Diapers (Children and Adult) | Any |
| Wet Wipes | Any |
| Trash Bags | Any |
| Pets and Livestock Needs | Size |
| Pet Carriers | Any |
| Dog/Cat/hamster (All Pet) Food | Any |
| Hay (All Types) | Any |
| Cat Litter | Any |
| Feeding Containers/Bowls | Any |
| Leashes/Collars | Any |
| Temporary Panels | Any |
| Fencing Supplies (All Types) | Any |
| Buckets | Any |
| Halters | Any |