Former Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun was evacuated from his home in California for the majority of the last six weeks due to the Los Angeles wildfires. 

Braun, 41, talked about his appreciation for firefighters as they continue to try and keep people and buildings safe.

"Firefighters and first responders are truly heroes," Braun told Fox News Digital on Saturday. "I don’t think that we get an opportunity to thank them often enough. But those guys have put their lives on the line. They’ve worked night and day. I know a number of firefighters who literally didn’t sleep for 72 hours.

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"These guys are out there doing everything in their power to save as many people and structures as possible. Incredibly grateful for everything that they’ve done for the community, and today is an opportunity to try to say thank you to as many of them as possible."

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Braun, along with World Series champion Mike Moustakas, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, Brewers star Christian Yelich and Mike Attanasio from the Brewers' ownership created California Strong to help communities affected by the disaster.

California Strong is a program of the YMCA dedicated to providing support to all Californians after disasters.

Yelich spoke about the California community continuing to support each other in times of need.

"The community seems to step up every time there’s people in need. I remember the Woolsey Fire was about seven years ago now, which seems to have flown by, but it’s a long recovery process. You know, it’s not something that takes a day, a week, even a year," Yelich told Fox News Digital.

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"It’s a multiyear process, and just to help people get back on their feet here at the beginning, hopefully be able to stay with them throughout the process and get back to normal whenever that may be."

Moustakas talked about how California Strong originated from Braun, Yelich, Goff and Attanasio just checking in with each other during tough times.

"It started out with us checking in on each other and then quickly transformed into us trying to use our platforms to help those in need. And that’s one of the greatest things about what we were able to do in baseball was use the platform in a way for good," Moustakas told Fox News Digital.

"We were very fortunate enough to have this YMCA partner with us, and it just kind of took off from there. And we’re here today supporting a ton of families with a great community. We’re very excited to help these people out."

Braun talked about how long and arduous the rebuilding process will be for people and how California Strong wants to help those people. 

"We live in this community. We grew up in this community. We can relate to the people and what they’re going through and dealing with. Similar to Mike (Moustaktas), I have three young children, and so I always view these situations through the lens of other parents. It’s difficult. It’s traumatizing. It is a long and daunting process for a lot of people to think about where to even begin to rebuild their lives. And, so, for us, the goal of California Strong was to support people after natural disasters and tragedies," Braun said.

"That’s what we’ve tried to do over the last seven years. That’s what today is all about. And the goal is to be able to support people both in the near term, immediately today and then longer term as they go through what ends up being a very long and challenging process to rebuild their lives."

California Strong is working with Proactive Sports to help get Californians back on their feet. 

"Proactive Sports has been partnered with California Strong since the inception," Proactive Sports owner Emily Capretta told Fox News Digital. "We hosted an event for those impacted by the Woolsey Fire and the Borderline shooting, unfortunately, that we experienced in our community in 2018. 

"And a really smart, strong group of women we mobilized to do a community thanksgiving, and that kind of started the beginning of California Strong,

"This particular event, the night those that were being displaced and losing their homes, I texted that original group of women that they wanted to do this again with me. And then I also texted Ryan Braun, and I said, ‘It’s time to mobilize. We need to be the first action point for those impacted."

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The Detroit Lions technically didn’t need to win Monday night’s matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, begging the question of whether head coach Dan Campbell would pull his starters at some point in this game. 

But, as Campbell has shown us too many times in the past, he’s never going to let up no matter the situation. And after saying it will be "full throttle" on the West Coast this week, he meant it. 

The Lions took down the 49ers, 40-34, where the starters played throughout the game on both sides of the ball. 

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Detroit remembers well what happened in January at Levi’s Stadium, having blown a massive first-half lead in the NFC Championship Game. So, there was a bit of revenge in this one despite the 49ers being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. 

Jared Goff passed his way to three touchdowns, going 26-of-34 for 303 yards in another stellar performance for the Lions. He found Sam LaPorta and Amon-Ra St. Brown, but by far the best Lions touchdown was yet another lateral play that worked to perfection. 

Earlier this season, it was St. Brown dishing it back to Jahmyr Gibbs for the score against the Arizona Cardinals. Well, the same concept was used as St. Brown caught the quick slant from Goff, but the speedy Jameson Williams came behind him and took the ball to the house on a 41-yard run. 

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At that point, it was a 14-13 game, as Brock Purdy and the 49ers’ offense were clicking well to start this game. 

Purdy orchestrated three straight touchdown drives against Detroit to open it up, including a strike to rookie Ricky Pearsall on the opening drive of the game. Then, he needed just six plays on the next drive to find Kyle Juszczyk from nine yards out, and the third touchdown was a scramble by Purdy for nine yards to make it 21-13. 

However, the second half saw a Lions dominance that has been felt by many teams this season. It began with a quick opening drive that saw LaPorta get in the end zone from six yards out. But, once again, the 49ers answered with a touchdown of their own, as Deebo Samuel found his way into pay dirt to retake the lead, 28-21. 

This back-and-forth battle was only going to fall off the rails when one team forced the issue, and that’s exactly what Aaron Glenn’s Lions defense did after making it 28-24 with a Jake Bates field goal. 

Kerby Joseph, who now leads the NFL in interceptions this season, picked off a Purdy throw that sailed over Pearsall’s head. And when Detroit creates turnovers, points usually follow. 

That’s when St. Brown’s touchdown, a four-yard catch, came for the Lions, who went for it on fourth-and-goal to take a 31-28 lead. The ensuing drives saw a missed Jake Moody field goal from 58 yards out, followed by yet another Joseph interception, which gave him nine for the year. 

That interception led to the nail in the coffin, as Gibbs, who rushed for 117 yards on just 18 carries, broke a 30-yard touchdown run to add to the Lions’ offensive onslaught. 

Purdy was eventually injured on the final 49ers drive of the game, but backup Josh Dobbs did add to the score with a scramble touchdown run to make it a 40-34 game. But the onside kick attempt to keep the game alive was recovered by Detroit. 

Looking more at the stat sheet, St. Brown led the Lions with eight receptions for 60 yards, while LaPorta finished with 64 yards on six catches. 

Purdy would’ve had a brilliant performance if it wasn’t for the two interceptions, as he was 27-for-35 for 377 yards with three touchdowns. Pearsall had 141 receiving yards for the game-high on eight catches, while George Kittle matched his eight receptions for 112 yards. Jauan Jennings also finished with 67 yards on seven catches. 

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