Alta Heritage Foundation Assisting LA Fire Victims
Archaeologists better their communities by giving grieving families closure.
The Alta Heritage Foundation is assisting victims of the LA wildfires in retrieving cremated remains from the rubble. Offering “compassionate and professional assistance” exclusively for the wildfire victims, they aim to recover cremated remains in a respectful manner. Aiming to give closure to those in need, the organization urges those they serve to not disturb the fire site and to protect the area.
Alta Heritage Foundation uses archaeologists and “specifically trained canines” to locate cremated remains entirely for free. Volunteers can assist in recovery, but they will have to provide their own PPE, food, lodging, and transportation. They also accept donations through their website to aid in the recovery efforts.
This nonprofit used dogs to sniff out cremains in the Tubbs fire of 2017, Woolsey fire of 2018, and the Camp Fire of 2018. Teams of volunteers sift through rubble as archaeologists and trained dogs sniff for clues. With assistance from the property owners, these volunteer searches create islands of cinderblocks and fiberglass. They narrow down their search area until they can find clues like shards of urns or other destroyed packaging.
Recovering cremains allows survivors to receive closure after a fire and losing a loved one. Alta Heritage Foundation’s volunteer efforts are not only a way to help people who lost everything during the LA fires, but they also show archaeologists in a light where many people don’t normally see them.
Many people see don’t see archaeologists as those who assist their communities. The Alta Heritage Foundation’s efforts prove that this isn’t true. The archaeologists, archaeology students, and others assisting in the efforts to retrieve cremains are invaluable to survivors who lost cremains during the LA fires.
