LA wildfires: Ms. Suarez on air quality and ‘disaster capitalism’
By Christopher M. and Pascual M.
By Pascual M.
How do you feel about what’s going on wildfires?
I feel devastated, when I think about the wildfires for many reasons, not only just the loss of home and belongings and livelihoods and just generation and general of wealth for a lot of families. But also for the animals and nature and habits and the land the is experiencing the wildfires and yeah.
What have you heard about the fires?
I am on an app called Watch Duty, it’s an amazing app the shows you where the wildfires are here and what percent containment they are.
Do all areas affected by fire require reforestation?
I don’t know because I want to say yes but I believe that the land that these wildfire are happening occupied and stolen land from indigenous people. And how to take care of land, that land they have been taking before any us begin here. So I don’t feel confident in saying what we should do. I think someone with one with traditional indigenous knowledge of the land should be making those distinct decisions.
How did it impact our health?
The wildfires impact our health, not only mentally and emotionally, but the air quality. I think about here because air where that we’re experiencing in south central, the air is definitely more affected in a worse way than anywhere else than LA and it’s really important, I think to talk about those health risks of poor air quality like asthma and different respiratory illnesses. This is because children’s lungs are still developing and are really susceptible to things like air quality, So I think that’s something important to think about and am sure i’m leaving others things out.
How hard will it be for people who were affected by the fires to overcome this obstacle?
I think that overcoming the fires is so so much and depends on factors. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to lose your home. I can’t imagine homes living for 3 to 4 generations just to be gone. Even places that allowed people of color to buy and settle. Need insurance, competing with people who want to build developments. Vultures. Prey on people in their most vulnerable moments. Bureaucratic city things. The obstacles, but when will it be safe. How safe will it be? With the air quality coming from the toxic debris.
(Interview below by Christopher M.)
Will people get forced out?
A lot of the black folks who went to check back to their houses were really pressured by the cops. They were called looters and all these things. They were actually homeowners.
How long do you think it will take to build all the burned structures that were caught in the fire?
Really difficult to say. I have been doing my own side research. I believe there has been a fire in 2018 and even now there has been no progress since the fire for the city permits.
Do you believe that places will get gentrified due to people wanting to move more into the city?
Yes, I believe gentrification is possible especially with a lot of renting spots doing rent gauging.Where they raise the price an extreme amount in a crisis situation because they know thousands of people have been displaced. Hard to say what pockets of LA. It’s also possible that in the future those black and brown neighborhoods in Altadena could become gentrified because of people who will take advantage of that. There’s a concept called disaster capitalism we saw happen after hurricane Katrina in New Orleans so yea.
Could this increase inflation?
I don’t know much about economics and like I mention that connection to disaster capitalism. People in power might take advantage of these vulnerable situations and increase rent. I’m sure there is a shortage of fruits and vegetables. Like raising the price on those. It’s hard to say.
Do you think the thousands of burned acres will be able to grow back to normal?
I believe the land is very resilient and a lot of native plants basically need fire to determinate. A lot of Native plants depend on fire. Way back in the day Indigenous people had a really powerful relationship with the land and they understood that fire was needed. And so they did controlled burnings to make sure that the plants got what they needed. And they also understand the land. Unfortunately, as you know we haven’t been stewarts of the land due to colonization, xyz were seeing more of these because of that relationship.
Do you think business owners will take advantage of the burned structures and expand their business?
I don’t know actually and I have been to Altadena multiple times. Three of my band members live there and one of them lost everything. The places there in my opinion are just like you can’t replace them. They are so special, I’m sure they will rebuild and it will be amazing. I’m not sure if they will expand. That’s a good question but I’m not sure. But Altadena is still special, a magical place. Most of the movies we watched, those really cool houses were filmed there. Same with Palisades. You know Palisades has been in lots of movies and just knows more people in Altadena than Palisades but I do know Palisades is not all rich people. In the 70s, people could live there and had more access to living.
Do you know anyone who has been lost to the fires?
Unfortunately, I do know so many people who either lost everything or the smoke had damage their living spaces so much it’s unlivable for the near future. So many artists, musicians, educators live in Altadena it’s like such a cool community and it’s heartbreaking to see you know your friends lose everything.
