OREANDA-NEWS. The Walmart Foundation today announced it is donating USD 25,000 to the Capital Region chapter of the American Red Cross to support relief efforts surrounding the Boles fire in Siskiyou County and the King fire in El Dorado and Placer counties. In addition to supplies and other in-kind support that's been given to first responders and to local shelters, Walmart stores in Placerville and Yreka are also actively working to meet the needs of the communities impacted by these wildfires - in addition to some of the stores' own Associates who have been personally affected, as well. A truckload containing USD 5,000 worth of water has also been given to Cal Fire in the region to assist in controlling the blaze.

"Walmart is committed to helping families across Northern California in good times and bad," said Chester Gray, regional general manager for Walmart. "In addition to the relief efforts already made by our Associates in the affected regions, we wanted to lend even more support to the thousands of people coping with these natural disasters. We thank everyone at the American Red Cross Capital Region who is lending a hand and we're ready to assist and support their efforts until everything is under control."

The Boles fire, while relatively small in size at less than 500 acres, destroyed more than 100 homes before it was contained on Sept.15. The King fire, which currently has more than 8,000 personnel assigned to it, has burned more than 96,000 acres across El Dorado and Placer counties since it began on Sept. 13. Twelve residences and nearly 60 outbuildings have been destroyed thus far, with nearly 300 still threatened.

"The Red Cross has been hard at work responding to this historic wildfire year in California," said Kathleen Weis, chief executive officer for the American Red Cross Capital Region. "Since July 1, there has only been an 18-hour period when we haven't had at least one evacuation shelter open in our region. Thanks to the generous support of Walmart, we can be sure our communities have much-needed support and relief from these disasters."