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By Suzanne Potter, Producer
Low-income Latino communities often bear the brunt of wildfires, so the Hispanic Access Foundation offers a wildfire management toolkit and video series to help families and policymakers prepare.
So far this year, more than 1 million acres have burned in wildland fires in California, more than three times what was lost in 2023.
Hilda Berganza, climate manager for the Hispanic Access Foundation, said Latinos who work outside in agriculture or construction are at high risk from the smoke.
“When there’s a wildfire near, they don’t stop working, either because they’re not allowed to or because they don’t know,” Berganza explained. “Lung cancer, asthma rates are going up. There are now links to neurological disease and cardiovascular diseases, all from the wildfire smoke and different air pollutants.”
Latinos are also less likely than their white neighbors to have home or renter’s insurance, so losses hit harder. They are less likely to have a car to make a quick escape, and may not be able to afford a hotel in case of an evacuation.
Berganza argued agencies should partner with trusted local community groups and Spanish-language radio stations to make sure the language barrier does not delay crucial information.
“The Red Cross has an application on the phones where they’re sending out alerts,” Berganza observed. “While that is a good thing to use technology, a lot of Latinos actually don’t have access to internet and or don’t have smartphones because they’re more expensive.”
The toolkit’s authors encouraged lawmakers to fully fund programs to allow low-income communities to reduce wildfire risk and programs to help families recover after a natural disaster.
Disclosure: The Hispanic Access Foundation contributes to Public News Service’s fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Environment, Human Rights/Racial Justice, and Livable Wages/Working Families. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, https://www.publicnewsservice.org/dn1.php.
