Addressing the “Social Calculus” of Wildfires

November 13, 2024

A wind-driven wildfire in Southern California has burned more than 20,000 acres, destroyed or damaged more than 200 homes and other structures, injured multiple people, and forced massive evacuation, Newsweek reports. As this is just the latest in a pattern of destructive fires to hit the region in recent years, it is important to pay attention to how wildfires and other natural disasters affect low-income communities of color, including undocumented Latino and Indigenous migrants, Michael Méndez argues in Issues. “Every aspect of a disaster—including vulnerabilities, preparedness, response, and rebuilding—is to some extent a social calculus.”