The insurance industry is responding to the massive blazes across California beyond merely paying claims.

More than $30,000 has been collected within the last week to help victims of the dozens of wildfires raging across the state by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation through a new disaster relief fund.

IICF has already granted $20,000 in relief funds to the Shasta Regional Community Foundation, a charitable organization to assist residents of Shasta and Siskiyou counties, and is working to collect more.

This year’s wildfires have reached historic proportions. Twin fires in the Northern California region are being treated as one, and are now considered the largest wildfire in state history, destroying roughly 443 square miles.

A helicopter drops water on a burning hillside during the Ranch Fire in Clearlake Oaks, Calif., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Josh Edelson)

Bill Ross, CEO of IICF, said the group decided to create the fund because of the severity of the fires and to let people know that insurance professionals are interested in the welfare of the community, not just selling policies and paying claims.

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