Airbnb Offers Free Homes to Wildfire Victims

Airbnb says it offers free temporary housing for residents of the Los Angeles area affected by the wildfires that are spreading in Southern California. The company partnered with 211 LA, a non-profit hotline that provides local information in multiple languages. Currently, Airbnb says it is focusing on serving people from the Altadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Santa Monica and Sylmar areas. The company can expand to support other communities, and empower the local community check out his blog changes.

Airbnb will work with 211 LA to identify residents in need of temporary housing and connect them with accommodations provided through Airbnb.org, the company’s nonprofit organization that provides free travel through funds from the company and hosts who donate their homes in the event of a disaster. . The company says more than 1.6 million nights of emergency accommodation have been provided to nearly 250,000 people.

The home-sharing site came under fire on Twitter/X after a user tweeted that Airbnb had it refused to write a book for him again in new shelters away from wildfires. The company told Gizmodo that the woman booked it on the afternoon of January 7, after the fire had already started, so it refused to issue a refund. Airbnb has since fixed this as a positive sign.

Some guests who made reservations in disaster-affected areas of Southern California are eligible to end their trip early under Airbnb’s General Disruption Policy and will receive a refund for the remaining nights. If the stay has not started, users can cancel the full refund. Agents may be banned from affected areas without consequence.

Thank you Airbnb pic.twitter.com/4BeL26L8Yj

— Ana Mostarac (@anammostarac) January 8, 2025

Until now, at least two deaths has been reported and at least 1,000 homes have been destroyed as three major wildfires continue to burn across the Los Angeles area. Television footage shows the devastation of wealthy communities including Pacific Palisades in ruins.

This is insane. Pacific Palisades looks like a war zone. Thousands of acres have been destroyed in one day. We hope the fire can be put out soon pic.twitter.com/1PnZOqnxCk

– litquidity (@litcapital) January 8, 2025