Over the past couple of weeks, the devastating California Wildfires have been blasted all over our social media screens. Several celebrities, brands, and news feeds have been showing their support for the wildfire victims. Over thirty-eight thousand acres of land burned up, thousands of structures destroyed or damaged, and a climbing death toll of twenty-four victims.
Currently, Cal-Fire has distinguished 135 wildfires total with four major fires. Palisades fire, Eaton fire, Hurst fire, and Auto fire. The Palisades being the largest, captured nearly twenty-four thousand acres and is only nineteen percent contained.
One of our SDHS students, Jasmine Auge, is from California and has experienced fires in the past. Jasmine’s family back home is just an hour and forty-five minutes away from Los Angeles. “My family had no power or service and the air quality is really bad as well as extra bad traffic from people leaving LA.” She went on to say that air quality affected her attendance at school due to air quality issues.
According to CNN, almost six million people are under a “critical fire threat” as these fires continue to be uncontainable. Children, elders, medically at risk people, and pregnant people are the most at risk. However, CNN says, “small particles in the dust and ash may cause irritation or aggravate pre-existing health conditions in anyone…” It is advised to wear an N95 or P100 mask or goggles, if not, both.
