The gala, which included a fundraiser for firefighters, was hosted by the Churches of Scientology Disaster Response, a global network of Volunteer Ministers (VMs) renowned for their compassionate relief efforts and humanitarian achievements in the face of catastrophe.
Courage, compassion and community endure even in the fiercest firestorms.
The organization fielded a total of 2,575 Volunteer Ministers, who together spent 99,462 hours helping 103,478 Angelenos during the wildfires. VMs provided affected individuals and their families everything from food, water, clothing, masks and toys to toiletries, medical supplies, hygiene kits, shoes and bedding. And they worked hand in hand with first responders and firefighters, administering to them assists—techniques developed by L. Ron Hubbard to alleviate the spiritual component of the physical pain, shock and emotional trauma they experience in the line of duty.
The gala began with a sumptuous sit-down dinner in the chapel. There, dozens of firefighters were honored, including several who sacrificed their own homes while protecting their city, and still others who had journeyed hundreds of miles to stand on the front lines and battle the flames.
Their bravery became a beacon of unity, sacrifice and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming destruction.
Among those honored was Captain Dan Lievense, a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Although he had faced countless brush fires across California, nothing could have prepared him for the nightmarish reality of January 7 and 8.
That week, two massive infernos—one near the Pacific coastline and another ripping through the dense wilderness of the San Gabriel Mountains, 30 miles inland—combined with five smaller blazes to bring Los Angeles to its knees. The City of Angels had never seen such devastation: Over 60 square miles of land scorched, at least 25 lives lost, more than 12,000 homes reduced to ash and tens of thousands forced to flee—highlighting the enormity of the task before relief and rescue crews struggling to deal with the conflagration.
For Lievense, the tragedy was deeply personal. As a longtime resident of Altadena, a foothill community nestled along the abrupt rise of the San Gabriels, he was devastated to learn that his own home lay directly in the path of the fast-moving Eaton Fire.
“But in the face of that crisis,” Lievense recalled during the ceremony, “my brother, my son and I came together and made critical decisions that ultimately saved many homes.”
His story echoed the theme of the evening: not just survival, but shared strength. In honoring those who faced the flames—some with nothing left to return to—the gala became more than a tribute: It became a spiritual reaffirmation of how courage, compassion and community endure even in the fiercest firestorms.
At the gala, each honoree was presented a striking bronze trophy—a bold, gleaming figure of a strapping firefighter, fully outfitted in the noble armor of his profession, immortalized in a moment of unwavering resolve.
Captain Dave Gillotte, president of Los Angeles County Firefighters Local 1014, which serves over 4 million residents across the county’s unincorporated communities and 59 contract cities, told the gathering he was honored to represent the 3,400 firefighters and more than 5,000 others who serve as emergency medical technicians, lifeguards, management staff and truck drivers.
“We worked 15 days straight, without seeing our families, sleeping in cars, on floors and eating whatever food came our way, often from community donations,” Gillotte said. “And we did it because it’s our calling.”
“There is a long road ahead in the recovery, repopulation and rebuilding phases,” he added. “But through every step, our LA County Fire Department members will be there to support their communities.”
