1
00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:05,120
Speaker 1: Dear Latino USA listener. Before we start, you should know

2
00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:08,560
Speaker 1: that if you want to listen to this episode ad free,

3
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,319
Speaker 1: just join plus and you can join for as little

4
00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:16,320
Speaker 1: as seven dollars a month. Joining also gets you behind

5
00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:21,000
Speaker 1: the scenes access and yes, some cheese me. So click

6
00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,760
Speaker 1: the link in the episode description and after you do that,

7
00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:33,440
Speaker 1: then click play. Let's go to the show.

8
00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:41,200
Speaker 2: Three weeks before they eaten fires burned Salas home in Altadena.

9
00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:42,720
Speaker 2: He was going through a divorce.

10
00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,480
Speaker 3: I had just signed the paperwork before the actual fire,

11
00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:49,640
Speaker 3: and so Mexico was already in my mind. Okay, like,

12
00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,400
Speaker 3: can you start? I can offer myself and my son

13
00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,240
Speaker 3: something different. You can come back and forth, going to

14
00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:57,560
Speaker 3: start a new life. Blah blah blah.

15
00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,720
Speaker 2: It was just an idea he thought about parenting his

16
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:05,720
Speaker 2: son in his home country. Sal whose full name is Salvadorsoselo,

17
00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,800
Speaker 2: grew up in a ranch in Mexico. His family moved

18
00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,959
Speaker 2: to the Los Angeles area when he was a teenager.

19
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:13,880
Speaker 2: Sal worked as an assistant in some of the best

20
00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,640
Speaker 2: hair salons in LA and then at twenty eight years old,

21
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,640
Speaker 2: he opened his own space in Altadina. He told me

22
00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,039
Speaker 2: about it when I first spoke to him in January

23
00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:24,880
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five.

24
00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,399
Speaker 4: Altadina. It's the most in my opinion, the most communal,

25
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:32,000
Speaker 4: beautiful place. And my salon is about to be seven

26
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,119
Speaker 4: years old and called Novo Art Salon, and.

27
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:35,640
Speaker 5: I love it.

28
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,440
Speaker 4: It's a safe space where everyone's welcomed, when where people

29
00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,240
Speaker 4: can come in and make the dreams come reality.

30
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,080
Speaker 2: So he had built this space in la and thought,

31
00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:48,880
Speaker 2: what a gift to one day be able to do

32
00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:50,240
Speaker 2: this in Mexico too.

33
00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,280
Speaker 3: And then the fire happens and essentially it was almost like, oh,

34
00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,200
Speaker 3: you wanted to do that, Now we're really doing it.

35
00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,120
Speaker 3: You know, it's almost like here you go.

36
00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,440
Speaker 2: A year ago one of the most devastating fires hit

37
00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:09,120
Speaker 2: California and it destroyed sales home. I saw the heartbreaking

38
00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,959
Speaker 2: videos that he posted on Instagram of the rubble where

39
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,880
Speaker 2: his home once stood, and that's why I spoke to him.

40
00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:17,799
Speaker 4: Then it's almost like when you you know, life flashes

41
00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,440
Speaker 4: before you. You're looking at things like I have some

42
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,480
Speaker 4: pictures on my parents pictures that we have our pieces.

43
00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,760
Speaker 4: I mean, I love boots. I have these beautiful leather boots.

44
00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:28,200
Speaker 4: If I would have done, I would to gram my

45
00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:30,840
Speaker 4: boots because it's probably were my precious things. But I didn't,

46
00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,880
Speaker 4: you know, because you're looking at your animals and you

47
00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,560
Speaker 4: look at your family, and I kept checking on my

48
00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:40,359
Speaker 4: son that he's okay. We did not think for a

49
00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:42,560
Speaker 4: one second that our house would have get burned. Were

50
00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,560
Speaker 4: very one of the most beautiful things I heard.

51
00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:46,560
Speaker 3: He was sad.

52
00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,680
Speaker 5: He said, oh man, my school burned. I'm not going

53
00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,160
Speaker 5: to be able to go play anymore.

54
00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,000
Speaker 6: And then a couple of seconds later he said, well,

55
00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:56,280
Speaker 6: maybe I'll in buy my friends to go play in

56
00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:02,440
Speaker 6: the ashes. You know, I think children get it as

57
00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:07,600
Speaker 6: always possibilities. I hope we can continue to see possibilities.

58
00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,480
Speaker 2: As the weeks and months passed. Sal a self described

59
00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,160
Speaker 2: spiritual person and a bit of a hippie, kept on

60
00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,880
Speaker 2: focusing on those possibilities.

61
00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:27,040
Speaker 3: And I took a class for earthing domes with Adobe buildings.

62
00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,080
Speaker 2: That are naturally fire resistant and have a lot of

63
00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:30,880
Speaker 2: history in California.

64
00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,400
Speaker 3: With the adobe building. I hired my teachers to be

65
00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:39,920
Speaker 3: our contractors, and they promised to deliver things pretty practically

66
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,720
Speaker 3: ready for them go to an architect to draw things,

67
00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:44,920
Speaker 3: and they failed to do that, and they wanted more money.

68
00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:47,040
Speaker 3: I think that they just thought I was like a

69
00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,840
Speaker 3: cute hairstyleist rather than like a guy who grew up

70
00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:54,960
Speaker 3: in freaking terias and mechanicals doing things with my hands,

71
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:58,480
Speaker 3: and I'm thinking, like, you guys, this is unacceptable. You know,

72
00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:00,720
Speaker 3: they wanted more money, and I decided to cut them off.

73
00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:02,240
Speaker 5: This wasn't all.

74
00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,560
Speaker 2: He kept getting phone calls and messages from people claiming

75
00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,400
Speaker 2: to want to help him recover.

76
00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:09,760
Speaker 3: It was almost like bleeding in the middle of the

77
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,840
Speaker 3: ocean and sharks just smelling that. It felt very vulnerable.

78
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,800
Speaker 3: Long story short, we got scam and it was also like,

79
00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,800
Speaker 3: well damn, but I didn't have the brain power or

80
00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:26,280
Speaker 3: capacity to confront them.

81
00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,840
Speaker 2: By summertime, Salm made a decision he would move to

82
00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,680
Speaker 2: Mexico City. He would be part of a growing number

83
00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,960
Speaker 2: of people who are deciding to not return to Altadina,

84
00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,840
Speaker 2: or who are putting a pause on rebuilding for now.

85
00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:43,400
Speaker 3: Because you had the feelings that you wanted to just

86
00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,760
Speaker 3: throw in the towel. You're looking at your neighbors who

87
00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,680
Speaker 3: are seventy five years old, have lived their whole lives,

88
00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,880
Speaker 3: and they're yes, we'll die in this hill, and then

89
00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,400
Speaker 3: the next day they're like, screw it. Why what's the reason,

90
00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:55,880
Speaker 3: you know.

91
00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,080
Speaker 2: According to a survey by the American Institute of CPAs,

92
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,400
Speaker 2: on average, more than a third of people affected by

93
00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:10,920
Speaker 2: a disaster report experiencing fraud. And almost immediately after the wildfires,

94
00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,800
Speaker 2: Elie County officials began warning residents of potential scams.

95
00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:18,400
Speaker 7: There are people in our community who look at this

96
00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,840
Speaker 7: as an opportunity to take advantage over the situation.

97
00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,240
Speaker 3: So I thought, Okay, we got scam. The fire happened,

98
00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,040
Speaker 3: I went through divorce, Okay, we're not going to rebuild,

99
00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,520
Speaker 3: and let's see what's going to happen with the soil loan,

100
00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:33,839
Speaker 3: because that was a big I mean, obviously you've gathered

101
00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:35,599
Speaker 3: by now that I'm I'm a big hippie.

102
00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,839
Speaker 2: And according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, soil

103
00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,920
Speaker 2: testing efforts in Altadena have found toxic contamination in the soil,

104
00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,960
Speaker 2: even after the federal cleanup workers finish removing debris.

105
00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,760
Speaker 3: I don't feel safe there because what am I building

106
00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,520
Speaker 3: and where am I building for my child to be in,

107
00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,120
Speaker 3: for us to be in, you know. So we decided

108
00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:58,560
Speaker 3: to just let the land of crew value for now

109
00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:02,480
Speaker 3: and not sell it for pennies and then see where

110
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:02,920
Speaker 3: we're at.

111
00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,600
Speaker 2: Earlier this month, Sal had the grand opening for his

112
00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:10,880
Speaker 2: new salon in Mexico City.

113
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,600
Speaker 3: The random has continue creating.

114
00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:21,960
Speaker 2: I'm going to guess based on the sounds that you're

115
00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:22,760
Speaker 2: in a busy area.

116
00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:24,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is.

117
00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,080
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful salon, a place where artists can showcase

118
00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:32,960
Speaker 2: the work on the walls, where community events take place,

119
00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,120
Speaker 2: and as Sal told me, it's where he's planting new

120
00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:40,039
Speaker 2: roots away from the contaminated soil where his La home

121
00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:40,560
Speaker 2: used to be.

122
00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,160
Speaker 3: What I learned from this, I mean, one of the

123
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,359
Speaker 3: things I learned from this is to make everywhere I

124
00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:46,359
Speaker 3: go my home, you know.

125
00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,120
Speaker 2: So, yeah, Sal's not sure he's ever going to go

126
00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,479
Speaker 2: back to Altadeena permanently or if he can ever rebuild

127
00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,760
Speaker 2: on that land, because a year after the fires, nothing

128
00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:09,320
Speaker 2: is certain in Altadena. From Futura Media and Fernande Chavarri

129
00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:14,679
Speaker 2: in for host Marina Josa today La a year after

130
00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:23,800
Speaker 2: the fires, so we just heard how Sal decided to

131
00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:28,600
Speaker 2: leave Los Angeles, but most people have stayed. A year later,

132
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,240
Speaker 2: only about a dozen houses have been rebuilt a dozen.

133
00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,560
Speaker 2: The road to recovery is far from over. So to

134
00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,440
Speaker 2: get a deeper senge of what this devastation has meant

135
00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,840
Speaker 2: and continues to mean for Latinos in Los Angeles. I'm

136
00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,120
Speaker 2: speaking with three people who lived it, researched it, and

137
00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,800
Speaker 2: one who even made jokes about it. I want to

138
00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,240
Speaker 2: welcome Chris Garcia, comedian from Alta Dina, California.

139
00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:53,800
Speaker 5: Chris, it's so nice.

140
00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:55,520
Speaker 2: To have you here, even though I believe you're not

141
00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:56,560
Speaker 2: in California right now.

142
00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,960
Speaker 8: Right I am in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.

143
00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:01,720
Speaker 5: Cool. Thank you for making the time.

144
00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,880
Speaker 2: I want to also welcome environmentalist and LA native Isis Ernandez.

145
00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:08,800
Speaker 5: Isi Is welcome to Latino, USA.

146
00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:10,640
Speaker 7: Thank you so much for having me today.

147
00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,440
Speaker 2: We also have Sylvia Gonzalez, director of Research at the

148
00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,640
Speaker 2: UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute.

149
00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,480
Speaker 5: Sylvia, thank you so much for your time. Thank you

150
00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,560
Speaker 5: for having me. It sounds like you're all LA born

151
00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:24,080
Speaker 5: and raised.

152
00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,440
Speaker 7: Yes, I was born and raised in LA so that

153
00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,000
Speaker 7: as people don't call the valley La but you know,

154
00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,480
Speaker 7: and rising costs of prices everywhere, I think living in

155
00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,120
Speaker 7: the valley is closer than living somewhere far.

156
00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,000
Speaker 5: Sylvia, you're laughing at the valley comment. Are you from

157
00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:40,800
Speaker 5: the valley? Are you an LA native?

158
00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,520
Speaker 9: I am a Valley girl through and through my family

159
00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:48,640
Speaker 9: has been in the valley for many decades. I'm currently

160
00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,840
Speaker 9: in Encino, across the mountains where the policy's fire happened,

161
00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:56,080
Speaker 9: and so as a researcher, for me, the priority was

162
00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,640
Speaker 9: how do we get data out about our community, about

163
00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:01,880
Speaker 9: the work that are going to be impacted by this fire,

164
00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,679
Speaker 9: about communities that we're not seeing on the news. And

165
00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,880
Speaker 9: so for the first three days of the fires, of

166
00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,360
Speaker 9: my team and I we worked i want to say,

167
00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,320
Speaker 9: like twenty hour days so that we could publish three

168
00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,920
Speaker 9: reports in the first three days around the impacts that

169
00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,920
Speaker 9: it would have on our community. So in the first

170
00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,920
Speaker 9: report that were released, within the first twenty four hours

171
00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,760
Speaker 9: of the fires, we estimated that about three hundred and

172
00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,200
Speaker 9: twenty five thousand people were directly within the path of

173
00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,040
Speaker 9: the fires, and about those one and forward Latinos about

174
00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:36,640
Speaker 9: seventy four thousand people. So within twenty four hours, seventy

175
00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:40,640
Speaker 9: four thousand people in our community were directly impacted. And

176
00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:44,000
Speaker 9: then we also released estimates related to jobs. There is

177
00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:47,520
Speaker 9: no good data source for us to capture the types

178
00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,040
Speaker 9: of jobs that our community does. A lot of informal

179
00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,199
Speaker 9: jobs that are not captured in official data sources, all

180
00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:55,920
Speaker 9: of those family members that clean homes, that get paid cash,

181
00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,760
Speaker 9: we're not capturing any of that impact. But thirty five

182
00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:01,040
Speaker 9: thousand jobs held by let's you knows within the first

183
00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 9: twenty four hours were impacted. So I think at this

184
00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,640
Speaker 9: point we're just really starting to understand what that real

185
00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:08,360
Speaker 9: impact is going to be, because we know that the

186
00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:13,040
Speaker 9: recovery is going very slow for everyone, particularly for those

187
00:10:13,080 --> 00:10:16,120
Speaker 9: that are less resourced, and that's going to be Latino

188
00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:18,840
Speaker 9: communities of course, and it's going to take a much

189
00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:20,280
Speaker 9: longer than we had anticipated.

190
00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,480
Speaker 2: And I'm curious if you can tell us a little

191
00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,000
Speaker 2: bit about how your home was one of the only

192
00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,199
Speaker 2: ones that remained on your street.

193
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,280
Speaker 8: Yes, I live in West Altadina and I saw it

194
00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:34,760
Speaker 8: on TV while I was sheltering at someone else's house lateist.

195
00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:36,280
Speaker 2: I've got new evacuations to tell you.

196
00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,720
Speaker 8: About any eating fire behind the reporter it was just

197
00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:39,720
Speaker 8: a wall of fire.

198
00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:41,600
Speaker 5: I want to take you live now. Look at that.

199
00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,520
Speaker 2: We are looking at a home burning in all to Dina.

200
00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:45,360
Speaker 5: These are live.

201
00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:47,640
Speaker 8: And to see that, I was like, I have to

202
00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,160
Speaker 8: go back, I have to see this is my house

203
00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,600
Speaker 8: still there? And luckily It was one of a handful

204
00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:56,720
Speaker 8: in the middle of the block that still had not

205
00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:02,240
Speaker 8: been affected, and I experienced such horror. But I had

206
00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,160
Speaker 8: never seen so many moments of unexpected beauty, of like

207
00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,440
Speaker 8: people helping each other out at black and brown people.

208
00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,560
Speaker 8: The good whites were all like helping. And the most

209
00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,000
Speaker 8: unexpected nice thing is that I have this Toto neighbor

210
00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,080
Speaker 8: that I have beef with because he always parks in

211
00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:23,880
Speaker 8: my driveway and sometimes he sparked in its sideways, which

212
00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:27,000
Speaker 8: is like, come on, man, he can't park perpendicular or

213
00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:28,000
Speaker 8: whatever it sounds.

214
00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:29,640
Speaker 5: It sounds like he has beef with you.

215
00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,760
Speaker 8: And anyway, he saw me on the street and he

216
00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,160
Speaker 8: ran towards me, and I ran towards him, and he's like,

217
00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:37,880
Speaker 8: how's your family.

218
00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:38,720
Speaker 5: I'm like, they're okay.

219
00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,160
Speaker 8: I was like, how's your He's like, my husbands still here,

220
00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:42,960
Speaker 8: And it was like this moment. We had been beefing

221
00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,000
Speaker 8: for years, and I'm like, so, I'm so glad I

222
00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:48,920
Speaker 8: thought about you. I was gonna text you, but honestly

223
00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,839
Speaker 8: I was a little scared. And he stuff sir a second,

224
00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:54,320
Speaker 8: he looks around and goes it looks like there's plenty

225
00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:59,520
Speaker 8: of parking now it's like this nice moment that we had,

226
00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,280
Speaker 8: but in short, we're still not back. We've been able

227
00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,880
Speaker 8: to make repairs on the house. We had to decide

228
00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,840
Speaker 8: what belongings to keep and what to throw away, which

229
00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,000
Speaker 8: is most of everything that we've collected in our entire lives,

230
00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:18,960
Speaker 8: my daughter's entire room basically like all of her Stuffy's,

231
00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:23,360
Speaker 8: her first dress, like all these things are completely gone,

232
00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:26,040
Speaker 8: and then you have to go through and make a

233
00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,360
Speaker 8: spreadsheet of everything that you have lost, which is already trumadous.

234
00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:35,760
Speaker 8: There's just so many traumas here like this has been

235
00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,600
Speaker 8: the most difficult, insane year. My heart goes out to

236
00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:44,240
Speaker 8: anyone that's been affected by this fire and fighting insurance

237
00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,240
Speaker 8: has been very tough, and it makes me think I'm like,

238
00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:49,320
Speaker 8: I'm very on top of it. My wife and I

239
00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:54,080
Speaker 8: we will become Karen's with insurance when you need to.

240
00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,760
Speaker 8: But I think about the smoke damage and everything in

241
00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,600
Speaker 8: our home, and insurance fought us to replace the mattresses

242
00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:03,800
Speaker 8: a mattress.

243
00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,719
Speaker 5: We're going to take a break, and when we come back.

244
00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,040
Speaker 7: We don't know about all the unknown chemicals that burned

245
00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:12,640
Speaker 7: in people's homes.

246
00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:32,560
Speaker 2: Stay with us, not Bayes. Hey, we're back. I'm Fernande

247
00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:36,199
Speaker 2: Chavarri in for our host Mario Josa. Before the break,

248
00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:40,560
Speaker 2: we were speaking with UCLA researcher Silvia Gonzalez, comedian and

249
00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:46,560
Speaker 2: Altadina resident Chris Garcia, and environmentalist Isaija Sernandez. Together they

250
00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,200
Speaker 2: were breaking down all the visible ways in which the

251
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,840
Speaker 2: fires have impacted life in Los Angeles. But there are

252
00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,280
Speaker 2: also invisible impacts that are deep within the soil. Let's

253
00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,400
Speaker 2: get back to our conversation. When you're talking about the soil,

254
00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:04,880
Speaker 2: were there not samples taken? Was there not an effort

255
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,600
Speaker 2: by the county, the state, the federal government to look

256
00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,640
Speaker 2: and see how much is in the soil, how much

257
00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,960
Speaker 2: is sort of into people's homes, and was there any

258
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:16,520
Speaker 2: of that done?

259
00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,400
Speaker 7: So there's there's a lot of community based research, especially

260
00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:25,840
Speaker 7: like Mothers organizing in the in Altadena to record soil

261
00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:30,000
Speaker 7: samples of backyards or even public spaces because there is

262
00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,320
Speaker 7: this concern that you know, being exposed to some levels

263
00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,960
Speaker 7: of lead, but we don't know about all the unknown

264
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,960
Speaker 7: chemicals that burned in people's homes that were released too,

265
00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,360
Speaker 7: that are not recorded on public data yees.

266
00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,560
Speaker 5: So the government was definitely slow to respond.

267
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:49,200
Speaker 9: I know of a couple of researchers over at u

268
00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:53,200
Speaker 9: se your Vine that went out at the request of organizations.

269
00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,600
Speaker 9: I think about the image of our workers going up

270
00:14:56,600 --> 00:14:59,960
Speaker 9: to these communities without any safety gear. Our domestic worker

271
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,080
Speaker 9: is going into these houses without any safety here or

272
00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,280
Speaker 9: any training for how to clean these properties right, how

273
00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,480
Speaker 9: to deal with these toxic contaminants that they were being

274
00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,240
Speaker 9: exposed to. So there's this hidden impact that we're really

275
00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,920
Speaker 9: not talking about at the moment. What could be the

276
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,080
Speaker 9: long term effects on people's health.

277
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,280
Speaker 5: I don't have specifics around the long term effects. I

278
00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,200
Speaker 5: think one of the reasons is we we still don't

279
00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,800
Speaker 5: know right what's in the soil, what's in the water.

280
00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:32,680
Speaker 5: One of the examples that always comes up is nine

281
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:34,160
Speaker 5: to eleven twin towers.

282
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,200
Speaker 2: According to the CDC, nine to eleven related cancers have

283
00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,600
Speaker 2: more than doubled since twenty thirteen.

284
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,040
Speaker 9: And the impacts that that had on the health of

285
00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,560
Speaker 9: the people that were there as first responders or that

286
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:46,800
Speaker 9: we're doing some of the cleanup.

287
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,359
Speaker 5: And there have been a lot of cases of cancer.

288
00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:57,680
Speaker 10: Rimost toil torus toil plomo elas based on to and

289
00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,400
Speaker 10: thosa says more.

290
00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,680
Speaker 9: That is a story that is very commonly shared about

291
00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:05,960
Speaker 9: the signora that they knew that worked in New York

292
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,040
Speaker 9: that passed away because of the exposure that they that

293
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:09,440
Speaker 9: they had.

294
00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,080
Speaker 2: I will be honest, it's a little nuts to me

295
00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:18,640
Speaker 2: that there hasn't been an effort from local authorities, federal government, whoever,

296
00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:20,800
Speaker 2: to say, we need to find out what's in the

297
00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,320
Speaker 2: soil in these communities. We cannot let kids play in

298
00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,360
Speaker 2: the parks that are like this. We cannot rebuild at

299
00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:27,960
Speaker 2: school on top of something like this, We cannot let

300
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,880
Speaker 2: the workers go to these places without finding out. But

301
00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,920
Speaker 2: is it because it's mostly black and brown people that

302
00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,000
Speaker 2: there's not that push for it? Is it too much

303
00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,160
Speaker 2: to ask it that way? Am I reading too much

304
00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:38,520
Speaker 2: into this?

305
00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,880
Speaker 9: I think this is the norm for our communities. I

306
00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,440
Speaker 9: think our government was just not prepared for the scale

307
00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:46,680
Speaker 9: of the disaster. We've never had to deal with something

308
00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,600
Speaker 9: like this. I think now they're starting to. I've heard

309
00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,760
Speaker 9: that there's efforts to do testing, But at least at

310
00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,880
Speaker 9: the beginning, it really fell on the shoulders of community

311
00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,440
Speaker 9: based organizations, of grassroots or organs to be to push

312
00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,879
Speaker 9: for partnerships like at universities to go out and do

313
00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:08,480
Speaker 9: this testing because it wasn't being done.

314
00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:10,520
Speaker 5: We're going to take a break.

315
00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:20,720
Speaker 8: Yes, there's a.

316
00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:25,600
Speaker 11: Lot going on right now, mounting economic inequality, threats to democracy,

317
00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,840
Speaker 11: environmental disaster, the sour stench of chaos.

318
00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:29,879
Speaker 5: In the air.

319
00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:34,680
Speaker 11: I'm Brook Gladstone, host of WNYC's On the Media. Want

320
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,679
Speaker 11: to understand the reasons and the meanings of the narratives

321
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,320
Speaker 11: that let us hear, and maybe how to head them

322
00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:44,920
Speaker 11: off at the pass. That's on the media's specialty. Take

323
00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:53,320
Speaker 11: a listen wherever you get your podcasts.

324
00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,400
Speaker 2: Hey, we're back. Let's wrap up my conversation with Silia

325
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:03,320
Speaker 2: Gonsalez Chris Garcia. Say around this, what over the last

326
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:08,000
Speaker 2: year has given you hope or strength?

327
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,040
Speaker 5: What have you seen? What have you experienced?

328
00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:18,440
Speaker 2: Asked Los Angeles has struggled to recover from such devastating wildfires.

329
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,960
Speaker 5: That's a loaded question, Fernanda, because I do policy research.

330
00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,719
Speaker 5: My whole job is being a Debbie downer. I'm not

331
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,080
Speaker 5: from like Chris. It's about pointing to gaps.

332
00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:33,119
Speaker 9: It's about pointing to where our government fails us, and

333
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:35,680
Speaker 9: our government has filed us in many ways. Right, and

334
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,000
Speaker 9: what I've seen is the story that Chris is telling

335
00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,560
Speaker 9: of community coming together. And I think that is what

336
00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:46,119
Speaker 9: just has turned this really difficult moment in our history

337
00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,119
Speaker 9: as a city into something that's beautiful. To see just

338
00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:53,000
Speaker 9: community coming together, people using their skills throughout LA has

339
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:53,640
Speaker 9: been beautiful.

340
00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:58,040
Speaker 7: Yeah, you know, as an environmentalist, but I communicate a

341
00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:00,359
Speaker 7: lot to like different generations of peace people.

342
00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,159
Speaker 5: Is you know, one thing that I really always.

343
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,359
Speaker 7: Encourage people from an environmental standpoint is the importance of

344
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:11,240
Speaker 7: native plans and reconnecting ourselves to plant native plants, not

345
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,280
Speaker 7: just because of esthetic purposes or it saves you money

346
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:18,320
Speaker 7: on your bill, but because it builds biodiversity, it builds

347
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,800
Speaker 7: climate resiliency. It's been shown that when you follow the

348
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,720
Speaker 7: Los Angeles Fire Department has I think in new rules

349
00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,600
Speaker 7: of like where you should plant your plants and like

350
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,800
Speaker 7: where the burn zone eras are. Is that certain plans

351
00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:36,520
Speaker 7: are able to absorb certain qualifire ashes. And I really

352
00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,120
Speaker 7: think that when you think about it from a systemic lens,

353
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:41,960
Speaker 7: a lot of people are just like, well, it's the

354
00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:44,520
Speaker 7: government's job, it's the city's job to fix this, and

355
00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,000
Speaker 7: it's like it's true, it is. But at the same

356
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,240
Speaker 7: time as individuals. We can also come back to invest

357
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,040
Speaker 7: in our communities to teach the importance of like let's

358
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,280
Speaker 7: plant native plants, Let's bring the monarch butterfly back, Let's

359
00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,119
Speaker 7: teach the kids about why they should care about nature.

360
00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:03,480
Speaker 7: Let's work with La Composts, that is, bringing local composting

361
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,000
Speaker 7: and build their own food systems. Because why is it

362
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,200
Speaker 7: that we have so many fruit trees in Los Angeles?

363
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:12,000
Speaker 7: Why don't we start sharing those fruits with our neighbors.

364
00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,159
Speaker 7: So I really feel like from a solution's lens, I

365
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,320
Speaker 7: think there's so much that's happening in Los Angeles, but

366
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,000
Speaker 7: I understand too, like the average person can sometimes get

367
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,639
Speaker 7: doom scrolling on social media because all they see is

368
00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,040
Speaker 7: like violence, violence, violence, violence, And it's true, what is

369
00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:32,359
Speaker 7: happening in our democracy is unfortunate and unjust. So I

370
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,560
Speaker 7: think that there's a lot of ways that people can

371
00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:38,480
Speaker 7: come together to recognize, like you can do one thing,

372
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,320
Speaker 7: just like as our parents taught us the importance of that.

373
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:43,639
Speaker 7: And I thank my dad for teaching me the portance

374
00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:46,159
Speaker 7: about native plants because he's a gardener himself too, and

375
00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,480
Speaker 7: he taught me at a young age of why.

376
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:49,080
Speaker 8: I should care.

377
00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,720
Speaker 2: Chris, there are oftentimes that you're going through something and

378
00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,640
Speaker 2: you have to just kind of be like Okay, yeah,

379
00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:03,760
Speaker 2: marit and then like let's move on. Right.

380
00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:05,359
Speaker 5: Whatever our job is, we have to go do it.

381
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,119
Speaker 5: But yours is comedy.

382
00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:11,000
Speaker 2: So how do you because my understanding is you did

383
00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,199
Speaker 2: even a comedy special and raise some funds after the fires?

384
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,560
Speaker 2: How do you find that the lightness and there's the

385
00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,480
Speaker 2: funniness in this? Is it literally laughing to keep from crying?

386
00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,800
Speaker 8: Yeah? I mean is a survival mechanism though it's very human.

387
00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:31,320
Speaker 8: And my parents my father was a political prisoner, had

388
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:34,919
Speaker 8: a very tough life, and my mother is still the

389
00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,400
Speaker 8: funniest person I ever met. Sometimes she deflects a little

390
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,600
Speaker 8: too much, which I'll say from my next therapy session,

391
00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:44,240
Speaker 8: But it's just like what do.

392
00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 5: You get to special?

393
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,119
Speaker 8: Like what are you gonna do? Like you have to

394
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,479
Speaker 8: metabolize what's going on in an honest way and you

395
00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,400
Speaker 8: have to feel it. But still there are funny things

396
00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,600
Speaker 8: that happen along the way. And even when you're completely distraught,

397
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:05,520
Speaker 8: you're devastated, and you're tired, you still also have to

398
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,720
Speaker 8: hold space for funny things and accept that funny things

399
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:14,159
Speaker 8: will happen. You know, I have the firefighter and he

400
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,800
Speaker 8: hads like stubble on his face and is real handsome,

401
00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,600
Speaker 8: and I was like, oh, I didn't know that about myself.

402
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:27,120
Speaker 5: I was okay, the reveals of the fire, I'm like.

403
00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 8: I see why people like firefighters now. But just like

404
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,720
Speaker 8: these small moments, like it's what gets us through life.

405
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,359
Speaker 8: And I'm always not trying to make fun of the

406
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:43,479
Speaker 8: fires or any tragedy is comedy somehow, and laughter is

407
00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 8: all around and you just have to remember to laugh

408
00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,359
Speaker 8: when it happens, because it's part of our humanity and

409
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,679
Speaker 8: it's part of our survival mechanisms in this world.

410
00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 5: Sylvia Chris Issai. Yes, thank you so much for speaking

411
00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,159
Speaker 5: with Tino u s A. Thank you for creating the

412
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:02,880
Speaker 5: space for us.

413
00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:05,360
Speaker 8: Thank you, thank you for having us.

414
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:10,239
Speaker 2: And did you and Chollo neighbors become besties or does

415
00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:11,960
Speaker 2: he still because he's.

416
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:16,720
Speaker 8: Still hard in my driveway and there's like, I'm like,

417
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,160
Speaker 8: come on, but we do text each other and check

418
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,600
Speaker 8: up on each other, and it's very nice. It's parking

419
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 8: is going to be a problem, but at least we're

420
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:28,120
Speaker 8: on good turns now.

421
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 5: Yes, that's all that matters here. That's it for today.

422
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 2: I'm Fernande charvari In for our host Marino Josa. This

423
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,639
Speaker 2: episode was produced by Monicamoles Garcia and edited by me.

424
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 2: It was mixed by Jaja Krubin and Stephanielobo. Nancy Trujuillo

425
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:14,000
Speaker 2: is our production manager. Special thanks to Memo Tejerra Field

426
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,160
Speaker 2: producer in Mexico City. The Latino USA team also includes

427
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:23,520
Speaker 2: Troxanna Guire, Julia Caruso, Freveca Varva, Renaldo Leanos Junior, Luis Luna, Lori,

428
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:27,480
Speaker 2: mar Marquez, Julieta Martinellu, Paloma Perez, Anelo.

429
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,119
Speaker 5: Rejuez and Arina Rodriguez. Penille Ramirez and Marino Josa.

430
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:35,160
Speaker 2: Are executive producers. Latino Joss is part of Iheart'smichael Gurla

431
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 2: podcast Network. Executive producers at iHeart are Leo Gomez and

432
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,040
Speaker 2: Arlene Santana. Join us again next time, Anama Mintime. You

433
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 2: can find us on social media and don't forget. If

434
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:47,160
Speaker 2: you join fufua plus, you can listen to this episode

435
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,720
Speaker 2: at free Get bonus content and special virtual events.

436
00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:55,679
Speaker 5: See you next time. Latino USA is made possible in

437
00:24:55,720 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 5: part by California Endowment. Building a strong state by improved

438
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 5: being the health of all Californians.

439
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 2: Skyline Foundation and funding for Latino usa is.

440
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,879
Speaker 5: Coverage of a culture of health is made possible, in

441
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,680
Speaker 5: part by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation