Brotherhood in Action: How IBEW Local 11 Rallied for Fire Victims

By Robert Fulton

When flames engulfed the Los Angeles area in January, IBEW Local 11 – led by Business Manager Robert Corona and supported by staff and the Executive Board – sprung into action.

On Wednesday, February 8, sitting in Local 11’s Pasadena headquarters just a few short miles from where the Eaton Fire was rampaging across Altadena and the surrounding neighborhoods, Corona shut down the office and sent everyone home for the rest of the week.

Though the flames never made it as far as the Local 11 offices on Marango Ave. just south of the 210 Freeway, there were signs of the disaster everywhere. The smoke and haze in the air reminded Corona of the 1992 uprising following the Rodney King trial verdict. A member had moved his two motorcycles from his nearby home to the office’s parking lot, one less thing to worry about should he need to evacuate. Compliance Officer Veronica Martinez called to say she evacuated, as did Political Director Antonio Sanchez (both of their homes survived). Overall, Local 11 leadership estimates that between six and 10 members lost their homes.

With the fires raging, Corona had his team set up a temporary email address, sent out an e-blast with resources to members, and posted a video on social media, anything to get the word out.

A week following the start of the fires, Corona and the Local 11 Executive Board held an emergency meeting to figure out how to help members in need. “We’re looking to be able to get some money for our members that have been affected by these fires,” Corona said, adding that details were coming.

“As far as we’re concerned, we’re all in this together,” said Local 11 Executive Board Chairman “Big John” Harriell. “It’s the right thing to do.”

During the disaster, Corona heard from IBEW business managers from around the country who were checking in on Local 11 and offering assistance. NECA is figuring out a way to help, and Milwaukee Tool has been contacted about helping replace tools for members who lost their livelihoods in the fires. Mike Kufchak and his team of Local military veterans helped out a fellow vet who lost his garage in the fire.

The Local also activated a hardship fund, and Deon Mayes helped pass the hat at the Electrical Workers Minority Caucus conference in St. Louis, bringing home more than $5,600 at last count to aid IBEW members affected by the fires.

As of the end of January, the 2025 fires across Southern California that kicked off the new year have killed at least 29 people, forced more than 200,000 people to evacuate, destroyed 12,000 homes and structures and cost untold billions of dollars in damage.

Back in the office, Corona asked staff to piece together care packages, including items such as toiletries, and donated them to Labor Community Services. They also assembled packages of water and snacks for first responders and drove them to the nearby fire station.

When the fires hit, several jobsites across the region – particularly those with outside work – shut down because of poor air quality.

“That was kind of the question that members had, hey, what do we do? So I put a message out saying that while this ash is dropping and the air quality is not very good, if you don’t feel comfortable, don’t feel obligated to stay on the jobsite,” Corona said.

It’s still too early for details about rebuilding, but work on any number of public entities such as schools – eight total burned – should be done using union labor.

The residential rebuild is another matter, but it may pose an opportunity for Local 11 to show how effective members can be on the housing front.

“We’ve got to start talking about what we can do and how we can help and even the residential contractors that are non-union, going to them and say, hey, look, we got a workforce here that we can help you rebuild our community,” Corona said. “This will be an opportunity that we don’t want to squander. We’re going to try to help.”

For Big John, stepping up to help out was an obvious response to the disaster.

“The IBEW allowed someone like me to be an electrician and gave me an opportunity to not only feed my family, but help others feed their family,” Harriel said. “What can I do to help? And so when I see another brother or sister down, how can I lift my head up to help you?”

For Corona, the enormity of the disaster fills his thoughts.

“I’m sitting here watching the news those nights and I’m thinking, what would I grab?” Corona said. “It’s just so devastating, it’s hard to even grasp. So those little things that we did, putting together care packages, taking the supply to the firefighters and the first responders, you want to try to do something to help the situation, even with the stuff you do, it seems so minimal.”