After talking to several students and staff at Mission High School, many have shared their fears and worries about relatives who live in Los Angeles. For several of those whose families live in LA some were affected by the poor air quality, fires got close to them forcing them to evacuate, or even losing their property due to the fires. However, the students and staff manage to keep in touch with them and offer their support.
Mr. Jose Zafra: occupational therapist
Jose Zafa was raised in Los Angeles and grew up there with his family. Currently, his family still lives in LA, specifically in the Eagle Rock neighborhood which is close to the Eaton fire.
After checking in with his family, he found out they were not in the evacuation zones, and they had been doing well. They were only worried about the air quality from the fires. They need to get gas masks and respirators to help them with the quality of the air.
To Jose, it’s scary to see the destruction of buildings and everything around where he grew up. A couple of weeks ago, he visited LA over winter break and saw everything before the fires happened, so it’s nervous for him to see what the aftermath looks like. He recently heard that his old high school teacher’s house burnt down, as well as some of the teachers’ students.
Although it’s very scary right now it’s nice to see the community coming together to make Go-Fund Me’s and donations.
“If they don’t have the money then they have the time to help out others.”
Mr. Arreguin: Spanish and Study skills teacher
Arreguin was born and raised in Los Angeles, where his family is currently living. His mom lives in Korea Town, which is 10 minutes from Downtown Los Angeles, and his brother lives close to South Central LA.
Even though they weren’t in immediate danger or contact, they all moved out of Pasadena because they were in areas that needed to be evacuated. Although the fire never fully reached their homes, his family is safe at the moment.
He’s a little concerned for his mom because even though the fires didn’t reach her, the poor air quality is making it hard for her to breathe. Even with the windows, the air somehow gets in and his mom said she’d see the ashes falling outside of her home.
He has also been in contact with Ms. Fernandez, who was previously one of the PE teachers and was the chair of the PE department here at Mission in 2020. She moved back to LA and was working at a school in Pasadena. The fires caused the school she worked at to close and she heard back from her students that their houses had been destroyed.
He feels sad for the people who are in or anywhere near Pasadena. He said it was crazy to see houses that were completely ruined and then other ones next to them that hadn’t been touched. Even though it’s a rich area with celebrities, movie stars, etc., there are also regular people, and everyone’s losing their homes.
Aaron Hart: photography and media arts teacher
He was born in LA county, Palmdale Lancaster. His friends and family still live there and were as close as two blocks from the fire. They were told to evacuate and went to Downtown LA. About 20 miles from his family’s house was the Santa Clarita Newhall Fire, which was thankfully contained and didn’t reach them.
The topic to him is very serious and sad to see one of the most beautiful cities be destroyed by natural causes, although it gives him hope to see people working together and communities helping each other out. He said they need all the support they can get as they’re starting from zero and with just what they have on them. He believes that it’s tragic that that’s all they might have with them and his heart and prayers go out to them.
Joaquin Martinez-Sun: Freshman
Joaquin’s whole family is from LA. His aunt, uncle, and grandparents are from Orange County, so they weren’t affected by the fires too much. Other aunts and uncles live in Highland Park, so they are somewhat affected. There’s damage done to their home and the fire caused a fire to fall on their house, and some of their windows broke because of it.
His family has stayed in contact with their family members from LA. It was very surprising for them, but they’re doing okay.
Joaquin says it’s “a little scary but I’m sure that they’re fine and they know people throughout LA so they have somewhere they can go if they need any help.”
Yarilet Morales: Junior
She has an aunt who lives in LA who she visits often. Yarilet contacts her more often because due to the fires, her aunt stays in a shelter now. She tries to help her aunt out by sending her money, and other family members in Orange County are helping her out as well. Yarilet’s aunt and her children, Yarilet’s cousins, were the only ones in the family who lost their house in the fires.
When the fire occurred, they could only take what they had on and just a few other belongings, but not enough clothes considering that they had to move quickly.
Four of Yarilet’s cousins are also staying at the shelter, the youngest being 6 years old and the oldest being 19 years old. They’ve been staying at the shelters for a week as they move in and out of other relative’s houses in Orange County.
After speaking with her aunt, she says her aunt is doing okay, just somewhat traumatized. They want to move back but are aware that it’s going to take a while to rebuild what they had.
Along with their house, the schools her cousins attended were also burnt down. Currently, they’re staying near the Dodgers stadium because they offer shelter there as well. They’ve made it clear to Yarilet that they don’t want to come to SF and are staying in LA.
Anthony Diaz: Junior
Anthony has aunts and cousins near Long Beach, close to the fires and evacuation zones. Some of his cousins can’t go to work due to the fires, so it affects them by not getting paid.
After keeping in touch with one of his cousins, he says that his cousin has been feeling overwhelmed given that she’s been trapped in the house and there isn’t a lot for her to do.
Knowing that he has family there, is concerning to him but if anything were to happen then they have plans just in case so knowing that relieves stress off his shoulders.
Students’ and staff’s concerns about their families show that even though the fires are far away, they affect the Mission community. We can give our moral support to these students but also to their families and many other families in LA. Those who are starting from nothing could use the support of GoFundMe, donating clothes and more.
