Helping Communities in Crisis: Portable Power Stations Bring Relief to LA Fire Victims

After devastating fires swept through Los Angeles County, many families found themselves without power, adding to the stress of recovering from the disaster. To help, our CEO, Sean Luangrath, personally delivered portable power stations to communities hit hardest by the outages. 

It all started when a friend shared with Sean that a mutual friend was struggling without electricity due to power shutoffs meant to prevent further fire risks.At first, we were disheartened to find that our newest Flex power stations were out of stock. However, we quickly rallied, tapping into our reserve stock of Kodiak LTs and refurbishing older units from our retired product lines—Apex units and Kodiak X2s—and paired them with over 20 solar panels. 

This effort wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing support of Footprint Project, a non-profit dedicated to bringing clean energy to communities in need, along with their response partner SmartAID. The Footprint Project served as the 'boots on the ground' during the relief operations, with Incident Manager Nate Heegaard playing a key role. Nate quickly received the Inergy gear, familiarized himself with the systems, and applied his years of experience working with similar portable energy storage systems. Having developed the innovative concept of 'Battery Libraries,' where portable solar generators are loaned to those in need, Nate and the Footprint Project team became instant experts on Inergy’s systems. We were confident they would effectively deploy and maximize the impact of our solutions. 

Our sister company, Big Dog Solar, also played a crucial role. They generously purchased the refurbished power stations to donate and sponsored the trip, allowing us to act faster and help more people. 

Sean personally delivered the equipment to a community resource hub that was managing donations and providing essentials to families. He didn’t stop there—he visited Will Rogers Beach, where another command center was located, to offer additional assistance. Going above and beyond, Sean even extended his trip to visit neighborhoods, handing out power stations and solar panels directly to families in need. 

One of those families was John, an elderly man living with his dog, Diva. John had been getting by with candles and charging his phone in his car. When Sean delivered a power station to him, John was finally able to light his home and keep his phone charged, giving him much-needed comfort and the ability to stay connected with loved ones. John was incredibly thankful, especially for Sean’s hands-on care. 

Another recipient of the Inergy power stations was a National Guard post tasked with 24/7 beach surveillance. Previously, the team faced the challenge of making frequent trips to replace satellite phone batteries and recharge critical surveillance equipment. With the portable power stations, they could now charge all their devices on-site, greatly enhancing their operational efficiency and allowing them to focus on their mission. 

We are deeply grateful to the Footprint Project for their seamless coordination and to Big Dog Solar for their generous donation and sponsorship, which were instrumental in making this effort possible. We also want to thank Tesla and the Los Angeles Port Police Community Relations team for their great work and assistance they gave to Inergy.

Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by these devastating fires. At Inergy, we are dedicated to standing with communities in times of crisis and providing the support they need to rebuild and recover. 

- The Inergy Team