Wildfire communication gaps persist for Spanish speakers in Washington. These groups are working to close them
Listen
(Runtime 1:14)
Read
As wildfire season begins in Washington state, advocates are working to ensure that people who speak Spanish get important information during emergencies.
For Maria Blancas, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Washington, the motivation to provide resources in Spanish remains personal.
Blancas grew up working in the fields during school and watched her family work under extreme heat conditions during harvest season. Her background led her to study at the UW to learn how to bridge communication between Spanish-speaking communities and the resources they need to stay safe. Blancas says that issues like heat illness become more serious during wildfire season due to increased smoke exposure.
“There’s still not a lot of information in Spanish,” Blancas said. “There might be information out there, but it’s not accessible.”
The Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center at UW, where Blancas works, focuses on research and best safety practices for people in fields like farming, fishing and forestry.
At the center, Blancas works with community-based organizations and researchers to create tools designed for Spanish-speaking residents.
Blancas has also done work at Community and Climate Impact Hub, a research group that focuses on climate resilience in collaboration between EarthLab and a network of partners across north-central Washington. The hub functions as a centralized board where organizations upload bilingual materials on wildfire safety, extreme heat and evacuation planning.
For example, the board leads to YouTube videos which are available in Spanish, produced by the U.S. Agricultural Safety and Health Centers. They show how to identify heat illness when working outside.
“This will be our first summer with those resources out there, so I am hoping people will use them, and we can modify them along the way,” said Blancas.
But Blancas said materials alone aren’t enough. Having trusted people within a community, like promotoras, is essential.
Promotoras are community health workers who provide education on a variety of health topics. They often meet with H-2A workers and attend health fairs to make sure people are getting information.
“People told us, ‘If I had known these things when I was told to evacuate, it would’ve helped,’” Blancas said. “They want to share their stories. They want to hear directly from people they trust. That’s where the connection is built.”
Community members shared the toll wildfire took on them in a digital storytelling project Blancas worked on in 2018. They spoke about having to keep children indoors during wildfires and the anxiety they experienced. The project also evaluated how social and environmental factors impacted farmworkers’ physical and mental health.
From the lived experiences documented in the story telling project, Blancas and her team created a bilingual toolkit that offers best practices for community outreach about wildfires and smoke.
“It’s more like a workbook,” Blancas said. “It walks you through how to plan an event, who to involve, and how to make sure people actually show up.”
Many different organizations, including CAFÉ , a nonprofit based in Wenatchee that focuses on education, have used the book.
Resources in Wenatchee
Meeting Spanish-speaking communities where they are is also crucial for Yesenia Perez, an environmental justice coordinator with the nonprofit CAFÉ, or the Community for the Advancement of Family Education.
Perez oversees wildfire preparedness programs in counties across central Washington, including Chelan and Douglas counties, where many residents are migrant workers or Spanish speakers.
“Too often, they’re left out of the conversation,” Perez said.
CAFÉ hosts a series of workshops in Spanish that teach participants about evacuation zones, air quality alerts and emergency alert systems. The goal for CAFE is to explain these tools and make sure residents know how to access them before a wildfire hits.
CAFÉ and its partners have also launched a variety of initiatives to keep Spanish-speaking communities informed and healthy during wildfire season. In some schools in Wenatchee, students help monitor pollution levels using portable air quality sensors, learning how to interpret the data and share it with their families.
The organization also distributes essential supplies like box fans, long-sleeve shirts, masks, water and backpacks. They also include Spanish-language guides that explain what to do when the air quality turns hazardous.
Another step they take is to bring emergency management officials into the community.
“We’ve started inviting fire departments and emergency crews to our events so people can sign up for alerts right there,” Perez said. “That face-to-face interaction builds trust.”
Reneé Diaz may be contacted at [email protected]. Collaborative reporting by The Wenatchee World, NWPB and WSU’s Murrow College of Communication Newsroom Fellowship.
