Wildfire recovery continues in the Los Angeles region—and so does the work of preparing our region for the future.
In the months following the fires, Chrysalis launched C-CREW: Chrysalis Clients Ready for Environmental Work, an initiative focused on helping people facing barriers to employment gain the skills, training, and paid experience needed to step into fire recovery and prevention jobs as well as environmental resilience jobs. What began as an emergency response has grown into a long-term workforce strategy rooted in resilience, dignity, and opportunity.
This February, Chrysalis is piloting another training cohort! In partnership with Resilience Force, a national organization that trains and advocates for essential workers, Chrysalis put together a five-day, 40-hour wildfire prevention training designed to prepare clients for entry-level roles in fire fuels reduction and emergency incident response. The training combines classroom instruction with hands-on, supervised fieldwork and follows nationally recognized guidelines used by fire agencies across the country.
Participants will earn certifications recognized by local, state, and federal agencies, including wildfire behavior, incident command systems, and firefighter safety fundamentals. Just as important, they will gain practical experience working as a crew—learning how to safely remove vegetation and debris in high fire-risk areas, follow environmental protections, and take direction from fire prevention professionals.
This training builds directly on the work Chrysalis clients have already done since the fires. In 2025, Chrysalis trained more than 60 individuals in hazardous waste operations and piloted a resilience crew that worked alongside the Los Angeles Fire Department to reduce wildfire risk in the Sepulveda Basin. That work demonstrated something powerful: when given training and opportunity, people rebuilding their own lives can also help protect their communities.
For Chrysalis, this is about more than one training or ramping up quickly for one season. Climate-driven disasters are increasing demand for skilled environmental and fire prevention workers, and these jobs can offer stability, career pathways, and living wages. Through C-CREW initiatives, Chrysalis is working to ensure that these emerging opportunities are accessible to people who have too often been left out of the workforce.
One year after the fires, Chrysalis remains committed to a simple but powerful idea: recovery includes work, prevention includes people, and resilience is built when opportunity is shared.