The band contributes to FireAid
The members of Judas Priest were very pleased to donate $100,000 to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) before their show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 19th. The band provided this funding as a relief effort for those who suffered property damage due to the recent fires in Southern California.
The members of Judas Priest are pictured meeting with six of the firefighters when the band presented them with the check.
The area is still trying to recover from the January 2025 wildfires, which have been linked to human-caused ignitions and environmental and climate factors that turned them into catastrophic events
The most destructive blazes were the Palisades Fire (which began near Pacific Palisades and Malibu) and the Eaton Fire (in the Altadena/Pasadena area).
The series of fires burned over 57,500 acres across Southern California, forced hundreds of thousands of evacuations, and resulted in significant loss of life and the destruction of over 18,000 homes and structures. The property damage alone was estimated in the tens of billions of dollars.
The fires were driven by extreme weather and environmental conditions, with hurricane-force Santa Ana winds gusting up to 100 mph in some areas, fueling the rapid spread of the flames. Southern California was experiencing severe drought conditions, its driest start to the rainy season on record.
Federal authorities have arrested and indicted a 29-year-old man, Jonathan Rinderknecht, charging him with destruction of property by means of fire for the Palisades Fire. The cause of the Eaton Fire remains officially under investigation, but it is heavily focused on the potential role of electrical infrastructure.
The music community gathered at two arenas in Los Angeles in late January to raise funds for the victims. The all-star FireAid concerts raised approximately $100 million through a celebrity-studded benefit concert and donations for victims of the Eaton and Palisades fires.
However, the FireAid funds were placed under investigation due to public skepticism over their distribution method, but an independent review found no evidence of misuse or fraud, concluding the funds were distributed to non-profits as originally intended to support relief and recovery efforts.
