Saddleridge fire paralyzes Angelenos

It was 6:50 a.m., when Jesus Lopez left his home yesterday to go to work in Sylmar. On a normal day, he said, it only takes him 15 minutes to get there from his house in Panorama City. However, yesterday was not an ordinary day.

The Saddleridge fire, which originated Thursday night in Sylmar and expanded through different area in the San Fernando Valley due to high winds, caused chaos in the streets and highways. It also caused delays to workers, cancellation of classes and business closures.

“I was in charge [in my area] because my supervisor was out. Early that day, my coworkers – the ones who live in Lancaster and Palmdale – started to call me to say they couldn’t get to the company because Highways 14 and 5 were closed all the way to Newhall”, said Jesus. For over a decade, Jesus has worked in a company that sells dental items.

He added that he began to watch the news and when he thought it was not something so serious, he decided to take the wheel and go to work.

On the way there, he realized that the roads were closed and took the streets. “Polk, Bledsoe and  Roxford [Avenues] were closed by the train bars,” he said in a telephone interview with La Opinion.

The odyssey of finding a clear road lasted 40 minutes. When he arrived to the company, he only saw 10 employees. In a normal day, there are usually 40 by that time.

“Another supervisor started to distribute masks… We work in a warehouse, and even though we closed the doors and turned on the fans, the smoke began to get in,” said the 34-year-old man.

The attempt to work lasted a short time. Half an hour later, the order was to return to their homes. The poor air quality made it impossible to remain in that place.

“When I left my job, there was already a line [of cars] on the avenue. It looked like the In-N-Out line… I couldn’t even leave the parking lot,” he said.

He adds that coming back home was worse. “They had already put blocked the crossroads. Hubbard, Maclay and Brand Boulevard were closed. It took me more than an hour and a half to get home”.

A day without pay

Andrea Sanchez, a mother of an 8-year-old girl, decided not to go to work this Thursday.

She said that her daughter’s classes – third grade at a Simi Valley school, were cancelled, and that she was notified at 6:30 a.m.

“Usually, when things like this happen at the last minute, I find it difficult to find someone who can take care of her… Sometimes you have to depend on friends but not everyone can,” said the 30-year-old woman.

Also, the medical office employee explains that with all the traffic jams it would have taken her a long time to get to work. “If you add the cost of the gas I was going to spend stuck in the freeway, it wasn’t worth going to the office”, she said.

Now she is waiting to know if her work will exchange this absence for a vacation day or if it will be considered a day without pay. “If it’s the second option, it means less money on my paycheck,” she said disappointed.

Closed schools

Marian Reyna, who works at a loan processing company in Granada Hills, found it impossible to remain in her office Thursday.

“My desk is close to the main door and the smoke began to get in… I only held on for three hours because my eyes were itchy and I could not breathe,” she said.

She added tha she received a call in the morning from Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), saying that children were going to leave school early due to the Saddleridge fire.

“Their school was not in the evacuation zone, but then they decided to let the children leave because of the smoke,” said the mother of a 6 and 4-year-old boys who attend Lemay Elementary.

When she arrived, the youngest of her children came out covering his mouth and nose.

Her husband, who works at UPS in Sylmar, was also impacted by the fire. “He starts at 4:00 am, but since the warehouse has the doors open, they were sent home because of the [bad] air quality,” Reyna said.

She noted that the restaurant where her husband also works, located in Chatsworth, closed due to the evacuations.

Take care of yourself

The smoke from the fire can affect people with heart or lung disease, such as asthma, says the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Other people at risk are older adults, babies and pregnant women.

The entity indicates that to protect yourself, you must move away from the affected area, keep medications at hand, wear masks, avoid exercises outside and buy an air filter.