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News January 15, 2025

‘Powering Through’: Industry Pros Offer Aid, Persist In the Face of California Wildfires

Los Angeles-area promo companies have faced harrowing challenges since the blazes erupted but are also doing their part to help their communities.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Key Takeaways

• Community Support: Industry companies like Los Angeles Apparel (asi/67971) and BELLA+CANVAS (asi/39590) have provided essential items to those displaced by the fires.

• Personal & Professional Impacts: While persisting and moving forward, promo companies and their people continue to deal with disruption from the blazes, though there’s good news to report, too.

• Firefighting Efforts: Firefighters have made progress in containing the fires, but challenges remain with certain large blazes still broadly burning and strong winds that can cause new eruptions in the Jan. 15 forecast.

For Craig Nadel, the wildfires raging in the Los Angeles area are hitting on a deeply personal level.

Not only did at least two co-workers lose their homes to the flames, but so did his brother.

“The fires are awful,” said Nadel, president/CEO of Los Angeles-based Counselor Top 40 distributor Nadel (asi/279600) and a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people. “It’s not just the fires themselves. It’s the air quality. We’ve had problems with toxic ash.”

LA wildfire

Justin Tsou, regional sales manager at City of Industry, CA-based supplier Tomax (asi/91435), took this picture of the Eaton Fire burning in the Pasadena Hills.

Nadel’s story highlights the harrowing challenges promotional products professionals and their communities in the greater Los Angeles area have contended with since the wildfires ignited more than a week ago, killing at least 25 people, torching more than 60 square miles and destroying approximately 12,000 structures as of this early Jan. 15 writing.

Still, there was good news to report, too. Certain industry companies like Pinnacle Designs (asi/78140) that had been temporarily closed due to knock-on effects related to the fires, such as power outages, have reopened again, for instance. And others were pitching in to help their communities.

Consider supporting these organizations to help those affected by the California wildfires:

Take Los Angeles Apparel (asi/67971). The clothing supplier was offering free T-shirts, socks and other essentials to people displaced by the fires.

“My son lost everything he owned in Altadena,” said one commenter on a Los Angeles Apparel Instagram post announcing the free garments. “What you provided for him today, with such kindness, was much needed and appreciated. Thank you for your generosity.”

Dov Charney, senior partner at Los Angeles Apparel, told ASI Media that the company feels fortunate to have so far largely been unscathed by the blazes.

“There were of course disruptions,” Charney said. “But that being said, we’re powering through and moving forward. By chance, very few of our employees were severely affected. We extend a thank-you to the first responders who worked tirelessly to contain the fire.”

BELLA+CANVAS (asi/39590) was inviting people who lost clothing as a result of the fires to its Commerce, CA headquarters between Jan. 13 and Jan. 18. There, folks could fill tote bags with clothing they may need.

“Whether it’s a few items to get them through their evacuation period, or a full bag to begin a new wardrobe, we are here to support the community that so graciously hosts our business,” BELLA+CANVAS said in an Instagram post.

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A post shared by BELLA+CANVAS (@bellacanvas)

Supacolor, a heat transfer provider based in Hawthorne, CA, was accepting donations of essentials that included water, toilet paper, diapers, socks, pet food, power banks, baby food, batteries and more. “Our hearts are with everyone impacted by the devastating fires,” the company said in an Instagram post. “We’re sending heartfelt support and strength to those affected by this ongoing crisis.”

Meanwhile, there were positive developments to report too from Counselor Top 40 distributor Fully Promoted (asi/384000). While headquartered in Florida, the firm has three franchise locations in the Los Angeles area that were under considerable threat of being destroyed by the blazes. Thankfully, all locations and the franchisees are okay, Fully Promoted President Andrew Titus told ASI Media.

“All is good on our end,” said Titus, a Power 50 member. “Everyone is safe.”

Of course, promo companies in the greater Los Angeles area were still facing personal and professional disruptions.

“Thankfully our facility is running and everyone is safe, but the majority of us live within 10 miles of the Eaton Fire and can physically see the flames and are inhaling smoke daily,” Justin Tsou, regional sales manager at City of Industry, CA-based supplier Tomax (asi/91435), told ASI Media.

Tsou further shared that some colleagues went days without electricity and “friends and family have lost houses, especially in the Altadena and Pasadena area.” There were also operational challenges for Tomax, with some shipments stalled and not able to leave California, at least for a time.

“We hope all distributors and end-users would have a little bit of understanding and we apologize for the inconvenience,” Tsou told ASI Media.

Firefighters have made progress in the battle against the blazes, quelling new small fires as they leap up and beating back larger ones like the Hurst Fire, which was 97% contained, and the Auto Fire, which was reportedly 47% contained as of this writing.

Still, the two largest infernos continued to burn broadly as of Wednesday morning, Jan. 15. The Palisades Fire, which had scorched nearly 24,000 acres, was only about 18% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Eaton Fire, which had blackened more than 14,000 acres, was roughly 35% contained.

The forecast was troubling.

The return of powerful winds was in the cards for Wednesday. The winds can rapidly spread fires and make it more difficult to check the blazes, as they can prevent the use of firefighting aircraft. Promo pros – and others, of course, in the Los Angeles community – were hopeful that the progress firefighters had made so far means a corner had been turned and that new worst-case scenarios would be avoided.

“It seems like the worst may have passed,” Power 50 member Jake Himelstein, president of Counselor Top 40 distributor BAMKO (asi/131431), told ASI Media. “However, we are still being vigilant, monitoring the situation to make sure it’s not spreading further.”