Fires Impact Pioneer Community
Wildfires raging across the state impact staff and students through air quality and evacuation warnings
By Gabriella Vasquez
Wildfires raging across the state impact staff and students through air quality and evacuation warnings
By Gabriella Vasquez
Beyond the national disruptions due to COVID-19, Californians faced even more complications this summer as wildfires wreaked havoc across the state.
Smoke and ash polluted the skies of San Jose, while wildfires threatened residents of the North Bay with evacuation. Last week, as a new round of dry, windy weather struck the state, wildfires were again a concern. With the damage caused by wildfires, there is no telling when we will fully recover from its destruction. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 7, 221 fires this year have burned 1,465,048 acres of land. San Jose still is still enduring hot and dry conditions, despite being in the month of October, although the smoke has resided. Principal Herb Espiritu was concerned about the air quality earlier on, and kept PE classes in mind during the peak of the fire season. “We would definitely try to keep students indoors as much as possible, and limit outdoor physical activities,” Espiritu said. “Air quality has been really bad and it's been hard to breathe on some days.” |
Although wildfire damage inflicted on California is not centered in San Jose, some teachers and students were affected. Chemistry teacher Laura Bald was put under evacuation notice on Aug. 23, causing her to consider the possibility of having to evacuate her house in the Santa Cruz mountains.
“We didn't have to evacuate but we loaded up my car with photo albums, art work, important papers so that if we got the notice while at work I would have what we needed,” Bald said. “It is hard to look around your house and realize it could all be lost. It really helps you evaluate what is truly important.”
Her daughter, Meagan Bald, 10, felt that although there was a threat of evacuation, distance learning from her mother’s classroom gave her an advantage while having to adapt to the wildfire crisis.
“My ability to attend school didn’t change as I was already going to school with my mom. I just had to have my things packed in case we had to evacuate our house during school,” said Meagan Bald. “As a student, the best thing you can do is to just focus on school and not worry about things you can’t control.”
“We didn't have to evacuate but we loaded up my car with photo albums, art work, important papers so that if we got the notice while at work I would have what we needed,” Bald said. “It is hard to look around your house and realize it could all be lost. It really helps you evaluate what is truly important.”
Her daughter, Meagan Bald, 10, felt that although there was a threat of evacuation, distance learning from her mother’s classroom gave her an advantage while having to adapt to the wildfire crisis.
“My ability to attend school didn’t change as I was already going to school with my mom. I just had to have my things packed in case we had to evacuate our house during school,” said Meagan Bald. “As a student, the best thing you can do is to just focus on school and not worry about things you can’t control.”