How fire disasters leave one of LA’s largest communities behind… and how to avoid it

By Rodrigo Cervantes | Edited by Belinda Chen

For many first-generation Latinos like myself, the idea of a wildfire threatening your house once felt like something straight out of a movie. That was until last January.

Unlike most American towns and cities, suburban neighborhoods in many of our hometowns in Latin America are dense, with most of our buildings made of fire-resistant materials like brick or cement. Help during a catastrophe often comes from camaraderie, with quick responses provided mainly by neighbors and family rather than authorities.

Don’t get me wrong: wildfires do exist in Latin America and can be devastating. But in Southern California, they are a recurring nightmare that feels surreal, frightening, and unfamiliar for many of us. Unlike Latin America, the response