The wildfires in Los Angeles resulted in the loss of homes for many folks, including music composer Dale Fielder. He and his wife, Patricia, bought their first home in Altadena eight years ago.

On the first night of the wildfires, while Dale was playing at a jazz club, Patricia began getting calls from friends who had heard about the fire. In the early hours of the morning, they had an evacuation call and could see the flames from their windows.

Once Dale returned to his house, he was in disbelief. Not a single house on his street was standing.

“I just sat in that car. I couldn’t move. For 20 minutes, I cried. I just bellowed,” he explained. “I lost my clarinet, flutes and piccolos, and I had an 88-key digital piano that was gone. But the most valuable and important thing to me, personally, was my original music. I had about eight different piles of manuscripts, which go back to the 70s when I first started writing. 75% of it is now gone.”

Others were also impacted by the fires in the Palisades. Wildfires torched over 50,000 acres and have so far left 28 dead. Thousands of people were placed under evacuation orders, and more than 16,000 structures — including homes, schools, and businesses — were destroyed in the fires.

Local nonprofits say it could take years for individual workers to regain their financial footing. After the Woolsey fire destroyed 1,600 structures in 2018, it took two years for workers in the area to be independent of nonprofit assistance for basic needs like food, rent, and healthcare. This year’s far larger wildfire means the impacts will be far worse.

To help folks like Fielder and others impacted by the blaze, The Winters Theatre Company, Davis Live Music Collective, Davis Odd Fellows Lodge, and Davis Media Access are coming together to sponsor an event being produced by Winters Open Mic at the Winters Opera House located at 12 Main Street on April 4.

‘Songs in Solidarity’ will kick off at 7 p.m. with three local bands — Island Crew, Putah Creek Crawdads and The Big Poppies. Tickets for this event require a minimum $30 contribution, which would go toward providing aid and resources to the victims of the LA Wildfires from earlier this year.

Beer, wine, and other beverages will be available for purchase, including offerings from Nashoba Wines, Berryessa Gap Winer, Super Owl Brewery, and Yorba Winery.

Proceeds will go to California Community Foundation (CCF), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that has begun distributing funds to the community within days of the fires starting, delivering critical aid to help families, workers, and small businesses, including direct financial aid, legal support, mental health services, housing assistance, and small business stabilization.

For more information, go to the event’s website at https://visityolo.com/event/songs-in-solidarity-benefit-concert/.