By Aaron Schrank
Originally published in LAist

As wildfires tear through Los Angeles County, tens of thousands of unhoused residents face a cascade of risks: toxic air they can’t filter, emergency alerts they can’t receive, and evacuation orders they struggle to follow.

County officials have relocated hundreds of people from immediate danger zones, but health providers and homeless advocates say there’s more to be done for the area’s 75,000 unhoused residents. The crisis, they say, has exposed critical gaps in how the region protects its most vulnerable residents.

“Our folks, they’re almost like sitting ducks,” said Melissa Chavez with VelNonArt Transformative Health, a community health provider serving unhoused residents in the Antelope Valley, San Fernando Valley and Long Beach.

“They’re in these fire hazardous places where there is still toxic air — with very limited resources,” Chavez said.

Wildfire danger in Southern California is far from over, with firefighters still working the Palisades and Eaton fires that started two weeks ago. New evacuations were ordered Wednesday after a fire erupted in the L.A. County community of Castaic and swiftly grew to more than 9,000 acres.

That means an even greater strain on area resources.

Wildfires expose safety, logistical risks for LA County’s unhoused
“We’re trying to meet as many needs as possible,” said Ryan Smith, CEO of the St. Joseph Center, the main homeless services provider in West L.A. “It’s not easy.”

Health concerns
L.A. County officials have urged residents to avoid breathing in smoke and ash, and to stay indoors when possible while fires are burning. But about 52,000 people who live outside — in tents, cars, RVs and makeshift shelters — find it difficult to avoid toxic air.

“The air quality has been bad,” said Giselle “Gelly” Harrell, who lives in a tent behind a pharmacy in Van Nuys. “So it’s been hard breathing and I’m having sinus issues and eye irritation.”

Physician assistant Carrie Kowalski said symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other respiratory ailments are among the top complaints she hears from patients at Venice Family Clinic, which serves unhoused communities throughout West Los Angeles and the South Bay.

“We commonly see them for asthma and COPD,” Kowalski said. “So [this week] they’ve been complaining about wheezing, trouble breathing, and coughing — because they’re outside, and they’re exposed to all of the fumes.”

Last week, L.A. County’s winter shelters were open, but were at capacity, authorities said.

Kookie Reyes, who stays at the Palm Tree Inn in Van Nuys through the city of L.A.’s Inside Safe program, said she has chronic asthma and was glad to have shelter while the fires were burning. But she said she worries about others in her community: How can they protect themselves from smoke and ash in the air? Where can they get air filters?

“It’s kind of hard when you’re homeless,” Reyes said. “Where are you going to put it? Where are you going to plug it in at?”

Mental health issues are also a key concern, experts said.

The 2024 Point-In-Time count found that 24% of unhoused people over the age of 18 live with a serious mental illness like psychotic disorders, according to the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority. That’s well above the general population.