Sylvia Bracamonte’s Op-Ed Submission about the North Bay Fires 2017

 Waking up to the smell of your hometown burning when you’re 60 miles away is a weird feeling. I am 31-year-old single mother of two who attends UC Berkeley’s Master of Social Work program. I forced myself to go to sleep early Monday morning, October 9th, after learning about the fires. When I woke up, the smoke was heavy in the air. People were complaining about the air quality and wearing masks. All I could think about was my family and friends who were in danger. Sandra, a close friend of mine, barely escaped the fire.

She lived in the La Mancha apartment complex near the bottom of Mark West Springs Road. There were many families who lived in her complex, which was essentially located at the bottom of the hill where a lot of wealthy people live and is right next to the freeway. Her boyfriend, Jose smelled smoke and couldn’t sleep. Sandra, exhausted from working a double shift of her second job, drank a beer to unwind and fell asleep only to be awakened by smoke from the Tubbs fire. It came barreling down the hill and was right behind the apartment they shared. As soon as they opened the door her apartment filled with smoke. She ran out of the house with one shoe on and twenty minutes later her complex was gone. Neighbors drove through the complex frantically honking car horns to warn other neighbors. Families with children barely escaped.

Poor people don’t have renter’s insurance. Sandra and Jose lost everything. They did not get a warning on their phones. They didn’t get a call to their imaginary landlines. They didn’t have sheriff deputies evacuating them from their homes. They got lucky because Jose is diligent and slightly paranoid, which saved both their lives. 

The emergency alert system, which is typically used for Amber Alerts, was not activated. Although we know the Amber Alert system is highly effective at relaying information to large portions of the population through their cell phones, county officials opted not to utilize this alert system. Rather, they used an alert system which sent out messages only to households that maintained landline phones. Most people who work multiple jobs, live in apartments, and forego renter’s insurance don’t throw their money away on landlines, undoubtedly leaving out a huge portion of the population. They only have cell phones. This begs the question: whose lives were deemed worthy of being saved? 

Oftentimes individuals and families with limited resources occupy living spaces that may not even have landline access- consider granny units or homes with additions that have been turned into living spaces. The only positive with this alert response is that many older people have landlines, and they are the most vulnerable to the death in these types of natural disasters due to immobility. While we have seen harrowing video of sheriff deputies knocking on doors and evacuating people from certain neighborhoods, no sheriff went to the La Mancha apartments before it caught on fire. What is the protocol for deciding who gets the warning? Why are sheriffs rescuing people from the homeowner neighborhoods and the apartment complexes do not get that same courtesy or protection? The stratified disaster response raises questions about the worth of lives, how alerts are distributed and who is prioritized for these types of warnings.

Where are all the Renters?
Although the media coverage of the disaster has told affecting stories of people hiding in swimming pools to save their lives and the destruction of Northern California’s massive wine industry, there are many other stories that have not been told. The truth of the matter is that there are many diverse groups of people who have been negatively impacted by this fire. In considering the renters who have been displaced, one cannot help but wonder what their options will be for finding viable housing options. 

The rental market in Santa Rosa- Petaluma area was already 96.5% occupied prior to the fires and in the last 5 years rental prices have jumped 50% (Clark, 2017). For many people who were renting and lost all their worldly belongings they will have to compete in an already flooded and inflated housing market. The Bay Area housing crisis will be compounded in relation to this natural disaster and Santa Rosa natives who have been born and raised there will likely be priced out of their hometown. In addition to this, considering the families who access public housing assistance such as section 8 or HUD, will now face additional competition in finding a rental that will be willing to accept their housing voucher which is already below market value. With over 5,700 homes and businesses being lost we as need to promote equitable housing options for renters as well as assisting homeowners who lost their homes. We have to honor the fact that many people will not be receiving insurance money for their belongings and will have to take this loss and still show up for their second job this weekend.

Poor people have not been represented in the media as victims of this tragedy. They are not on the news telling their stories about the antique wine glasses that were worth thousands of dollars that were lost in the fires. Marginalized groups such as undocumented people, instead, have to ask themselves if it is safe for them to access emergency resources and shelters rather than grieving their losses. They do not qualify for government aid and disaster relief. This disaster places them at further risk of being exposed to law enforcement. Consider, for a moment, the winery’s that have been featured on the news. Who harvests those grapes? Not only are these farm workers likely displaced from their homes, but they also now face unemployment and are at risk for being exposed to further harm, including exposing themselves to untold environmental risks caused by the smoldering remains of the fires If they take the job of cleaning up the wineries they used to harvest. We do not see the media sympathizing with these families who are already the most vulnerable.

As the smoke clears and the victims of the fire begin to sift through the ashes of their lives, it is important to remember that the long-term effects of this fire will continue to affect the lives of the most vulnerable in the North Bay. They now face the uphill battle of securing housing in a compounded rental market. Many people have lost their jobs and may not be receiving compensation. Undoubtedly many people that lost their homes will have to relocate for lack of affordable housing in Santa Rosa. When we remember the firestorm that ripped through the North Bay let’s remember these people and not just the fact that the wine might taste like smoke.