Critical Role, the ongoing Dungeons & Dragons campaign played by a group of popular voice actors, is on pause until next week due to the ongoing, devastating wildfires in Los Angeles. The group announced the delay on its social media on Wednesday: “As the evolving fires in Los Angeles are directly impacting our cast and crew, we’re taking a break from streaming this week with the intention of returning to Exandria next Thursday, January 16th.”
The Critical Role series is typically broadcast live on Twitch and YouTube on Thursdays. It stars voice actors including Matthew Mercer, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegal, Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O’Brien, and more — many of whom are located in Los Angeles alongside production staff and support crew.
“As of this exact moment, the two largest fires burning throughout the Los Angeles area are 0% contained,” Critical Role senior vice president of marketing Rachel Romero told Polygon in a statement. “I heard on the local news this morning that the fire that’s burning in the Palisades is the most destructive fire in Los Angeles’s history. Some of our family, friends, colleagues, co-workers have lost their houses, businesses, and other places that feel like home to them. We are absolutely heartbroken to see so much destruction and loss in our own backyard and encourage everyone to take a moment and think through how they can best support — whether that is through a monetary donation, food or supplies donations here locally, or just sharing resources within your own network, whether it be online or offline.”
Critical Role Productions has donated $30,000 to the California Community Foundation’s Wildlife Recovery Fund, according to a post on BlueSky. This is largely in part due to the Critical Role Foundation, an organization that accepts donations from the passionate Critical Role fan community.
“We are inexplicably grateful to the Critical Role community, who has allowed us the opportunity to create meaningful change through the Critical Role Foundation,” said Romero, who is a board member for the Critical Role Foundation. “CRF allocates 10% of every donation to an emergency fund, which allows us to be able to send aid quickly in the event that something tragic like this unfolds. We are keeping our community in Los Angeles, as well as all of the incredible people working to put the fires out (and the support staff around them!), in our hearts.”
Five major fires are currently burning in Los Angeles Country, the largest of which is the Pacific Palisades fire, which has spread to 17,000 acres as of Thursday morning. More than 100,000 people have been forced to evacuate while heavy winds pushed the fire erratically around the city and its surrounding areas. Five people have died due to the fires, and thousands of buildings — including schools, homes, and businesses — have been damaged or destroyed. Combined with the Palisades fire, the Eaton fire, Hurst fire, Lidia fire, and Sunset fire account for 28,896 acres burned.
California residents and others are sharing resources to help their communities; Planet Fitness gyms in Los Angeles Country are open to non-members, and others are handing out quality masks to protect residents from dangerous wildfire smoke. There are tons of regional and grassroots organizations accepting donations, including the LAFD Wildfire Emergency Fund, Mutual Aid LA, Our Big Kitchen, and more.
