The Alabama Association of REALTORS® Disaster Relief Fund has donated $10,000 to the California Association of REALTORS® in response to the recent and ongoing wildfires. According to Cal Fire, 7,042 fires have burned this year covering over 505,900 acres, which is larger than Huntsville, Montgomery, Birmingham, Mobile, and Dothan combined.

The 2017 wildfire season in California has been named the most destructive. The Thomas Fire, which is still burning, is the largest wildfire in California’s modern history, destroying 1,063 homes, businesses, and other structures and damaging hundreds more.

Jimmie Ann Campbell, of the Montgomery Area Association of REALTORS®, is chairwoman of the REALTORS® Disaster Relief Fund.

“As Alabamians we know what it’s like to evacuate for a hurricane, not knowing what will remain when we return. Similarly, hundreds of thousands of Californians have been forced to evacuate their homes and communities, many returning to only charred debris," said Campbell. "As REALTORS®, we are called to step in and assist them as they rebuild their homes, communities, and lives.”

The Alabama Association of REALTORS® Disaster Relief Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization established in September 2004, immediately following Hurricane Ivan, to provide emergency relief to those who sustained damage to their personal residence.  Since that time, the fund has provided assistance to approximately 1,500 individuals and made approximately $2,000,000 in contributions to relief efforts. One hundred percent of all donations go to aiding in the recovery efforts.

The Alabama Association of REALTORS® (AAR) is the largest statewide organization of real estate professionals comprised of over 14,000 members. United by adherence to a Code of Ethics, our members work as real estate professionals in the sale, lease, appraisal, management, and development of residential, commercial, rural, and resort properties throughout Alabama.

(Photo Courtesy: Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP)