Los Angeles Steven Otero, who lives in a tent on Skid Row, witnessed ash fall on everything in his house as wildfires burned just miles away.
The poisonous flood even threatened his food and water.
He claimed that in a matter of minutes, the cup of water I had set out had filled with ash.
Otero claimed that he has no underlying medical conditions or respiratory ailments, but on the third day of the fires, which broke out on January 7 in the Pacific Palisades district of Los Angeles and the neighboring city of Altadena, killing at least 47 people and destroying 16,255 homes, he was having trouble breathing.
“It felt like the shortness of breath you get when you’re leaving the pool after swimming,” he added.
Unhoused persons on Skid Row do not have the same options, they claimed, as many Angelenos stayed indoors, wore masks, and drank bottled water to protect themselves from the harmful effects of the fire.
According to NBC Los Angeles, a large number of people living in Skid Row get their water from illegally tapped fire hydrants.
In an effort to bridge the gap, nonprofit organizations like Water Drop LA and the Refresh Spot are giving residents of Skid Row access to N95 masks and safe drinking water.
Only nine public water fountains are available to the 3,791 people of Skid Row, and many of them are damaged, according to Sade Kammen, an activist with Water Drop. Water Drop has been delivering 2,200 gallons of water each week to Skid Row for 236 consecutive weeks since it started in 2020, she said.
According to Kammen, we deliver more than 100,000 gallons of water annually that would not otherwise be present.
To unload water bottles from U-Haul trucks and load them into volunteer cars, Water Drop volunteers met in a parking lot at the University of Southern California on Sunday, the first rainy day of the year in Los Angeles.
Volunteer Claire Beltramo stated, “I’ve been on my route for years.” The individuals on my streets are my buddies.
Some homeless persons were waiting on street corners for Beltramo’s car while volunteers drove up and down South Central Avenue. They requested water, snacks, feminine hygiene items, and masks.
During the flames, downtown saw some of the city’s worst air quality, according to NBC News senior meteorologist Kathryn Prociv.
“The highest levels of AQI pollutants sat over downtown L.A. for several days after the fires broke out,” Prociv added, referring to the air quality index.
According to Samson Tafolo, an organizer with the Sidewalk Project, a homeless services organization, several people’ tents were also destroyed by hurricane-force winds that stoked the wildfires.
Tafolo stated that the winds had been awful. They have been dismantling tents for everyone.
Those who lost their tents or had to flee the smoke have been temporarily housed in cots that his group and others have been erecting at supply distribution stations.
Health officials in Los Angeles County warned residents living close to the Palisades and Eaton fires not to drink or boil water because the municipal water system may have been contaminated with substances that cause cancer.
According to Kammen, unhoused persons frequently lack the funds to purchase bottled water, and fire hydrant water is not always fit for human use.
People shouldn’t have to drink water from hydrants, she said, especially at this time when everyone in Los Angeles is concerned about the quality of their water.
In addition to offering showers, bathrooms, laundry facilities, and drinking water around-the-clock, TheRefresh Spot, a project of the social services group Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, has been giving out masks and urging individuals to spend time indoors.
The program’s coordinator, Stephany Campos, said she has already witnessed people using fire hydrants due to the drier-than-normal winter months and water quality issues. Some of Skid Row’s water requirements are met by locations like the Refresh Spot and mobile initiatives like Water Drop, but more easily accessible, well-maintained fountains are needed everywhere, she said.
According to Kammen, volunteers from Water Drop LA will still drive into the neighborhood every Sunday for the time being.
“Unsheltered people are in crisis mode whenever there is a weather deviation,” she said. However, the winds and fires have caused a great deal of loss to people.