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Ok. Um, can you start off by, um, telling me your name, uh, your grade level and, um, uh, what age were you when the fires happened? For sure. And the grade level is an aspect of like, if like when I was a senior, like while I

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was right, are you saying? Yeah. Ok. So my name is Brian Rodriguez. And if this was the first time the fires happened, which is what, late 2017, I was a senior and I think I was 17 years old. About 17. Yeah. Ok. Um, and can you

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tell me what school or like surrounding area you were living at, uh, during this time? Yeah. Um, I was a senior at LC Allen High and, um, I lived, uh, on Santa Rosa Ave of Todd Road. So kind of like on the very end of Santa

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Rosa, like literally right by Park. Ok. Um, can you tell me about your living situation? Um, and how that was looking before the fire? So, did you live, like, with relatives? Um, yeah, like grandparents, parents, uh, at the time, I think I just lived with my

00:01:08.730 - 00:01:27.830

mom, my grandma and I, I wanna say, I think that was it. That was it. Yeah, it was just us to be in the house and then just occasionally just some friends coming over. Ok. Um, was it like an apartment complex? A house, mobile home? Uh,

00:01:27.839 - 00:01:45.099

they were, they were mobile homes? Oh, ok. Ok, good. Um, can you tell me how you learned about the fires? Like, um, did you receive alerts, text messages? Like, did you check social media or were you guys like more tuned in with the news? Uh I

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actually remember that night too because um it was, it was pretty windy like, you know, leading into it and I was like, damn, like this is pretty odd, you know, and I remember going to sleep because it was a Sunday going to Monday and I had

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school the next day and I had zero period. So when I think my uncle called me, yeah, he called me. He's like, hey, he's like, wake up the family, you know, like there's like some fires going on like nearby and I was, you know, kind of,

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I was 17. So I was kind of still like a little mature in the sense where I was like, uh like, it's not nothing too crazy, you know, like I'm gonna go back to sleep. I gotta see a period and then he ended up pulling up

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and then, you know, my whole family woke up and everybody was outside and then that's when I kind of went on social media and kind of started seeing like, what was going on and then I remember I started seeing all the cars, like, um, lining up

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and like, you know, heading south, I believe. And I was like, oh shit, this kind of looks like an apocalypse, you know. Yeah, but that's how I heard about it was basically my uncle called me and he came to the house and he kind of just

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let all of us know like, hey, what's going on? And then I hopped on social media. So. Mhm. Um, did your uncle like, live during like, I mean, um like close by or? Yeah, he live uh he lived like 23 miles down the street probably no

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more than like five minutes. Ok. Ok. Like going based off of that. Um, what were your feelings or emotions during like the alerts or the updates you received about the situation at first? Um Like I said, I wasn't taking it as serious, like looking back at

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it now. I'm like, well, I would have handled the way differently, you know, but I was kind of just like, uh it's like, all right, it is what it is, you know, like I was just more worried about missing school or like wondering like, what was

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the situation with school? You know, because I was like, dang, like I gotta get to school if that's the case or whatever is going on. Because I didn't know if it was gonna, like, if it was just a small fire that was just gonna be like

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it for a day or we didn't know what was gonna happen. But for the most part I could say I really wasn't taking it too serious. I could say that. Uh-huh. Oh, wow. So you still, like, got ready for school and everything? No. No. I think

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after a couple of hours you kind of realized that. I think I got a message or something saying the school was canceled and, uh, they actually use C as a, like a, like an evacuation place, I think. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Ok. Yeah, Raul was telling me

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about that. Um, uh, can you tell me what kind of student you were like before the fires? Like, how was your sleep schedule? Your academic engagement? Um, a little bit about your grades. Um, since the senior year, senior year was pretty good. Honestly, it's kind of

00:04:05.949 - 00:04:15.869

like most people senior, you know, it's more laid back and show because you've already have, like, most of, you know, the stuff you got to do. So, for the most part it was pretty good. I somehow made honor role. I, I still don't know how, but

00:04:17.670 - 00:04:26.940

for the most part, um, I was a pretty laid back student. I really never caused too much trouble but I was pretty much cool with a lot of people, my teachers and, you know, I could say it was senior year was pretty good for me. I'd

00:04:26.950 - 00:04:43.630

say. Did you get senioritis? Uh, I forgot. What is that again? Is that like when you, like, start missing school? Yeah. It's like, basically, yeah, that was me for sure. Yeah. Um, do you remember what it was like to go back to class after the fires?

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Well, I know that there was, like, online class but, like, once you got to the actual school, like, did you see that there was like, damage done to your school, like, or your surrounding areas? Like, what was the environment like at school after the? Ok. I

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think we had, we had three weeks off. So when we came back to school for the most part, since, um, LC is on the south side of Santa Rosa, the only people who were really kind of, like, affected by the fires were like some teachers that

00:05:10.820 - 00:05:22.079

live, like on the north side of Santa Rosa. You know, like, for the most part, like all the students, they kind of live around the area. So nobody really had, like, at least nobody like that I knew had, like, their house burn or anything but there

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were some teachers that did have like, some stuff going on or like, maybe their families and stuff like that. But for the most part I didn't know anybody personally that, like, lost their home or anything. Oh, ok. Um, did you see, like, the teachers like, how

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would you, like, describe them when you saw them if any came back like that lost their homes? Hm. Uh, off the top of my head. I don't remember the teachers that did lose their homes because there was only like a, under a handful amount I'd say,

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you know, they kind of just explain to it to us like any adult, you know, like how you should be more prepared for next time. You know, what you should do, you know, especially just being young, you know, at first we're not really taking too much

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into consideration, but I like looking at it now. I'm like, dang like now, like I could look back and be like, I would handle that situation way differently and take what they say more into consideration, you know. Um Let's see. Um if you can, can you

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walk us through like your initial reactions, walking through the school again or like into a classroom? Like, how did you feel that the mood was different? Did you see any of your other classmates like affected by it? Were they like talking about other family that was

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affected? Yeah, I remember some people talking about that stuff. Not really too much, but I'd say since we have social media, we kind of were already texting like the people that like we talked to originally and asking how they were already, you know. So for the

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most part, we kind of already knew like how our friends were and such. But I, I don't remember too many people saying, like, you know, if their house burned down or anything like that, it was kind of, it was kind of like everything went back to,

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not back to normal, but, ah, damn sex. I don't even know how to say it. It was something very different for sure. Because, like, we never ever experienced anything like that, like a fire around here. But I'd say after a bit of time everything kind of

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went back to normal in a sense. Yeah. Um, did you ever see any of the people that were, like, in the gym or? Yeah, that were at your school? Like, the people that were evacuated? No, I didn't. Ok. Um, how would you say your academic engagement

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suffered? Um, like, can you talk about if any sleep schedules, um, change emotional distress, um, mental health even? Like, uh, did you have to evacuate? Uh, I believe, yeah, I believe it. I did it back here. Yeah, I did and I think I would like to,

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but by the time I went back I think everything was pretty good to come back. So I came back to my place and I kind of just stayed there for the most part, but I wouldn't say I necessarily had any emotional, like, trauma or anything personally,

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or, like, it didn't ruin my sleep schedule. It was kind of like, I, I personally at the time. It was just, like, all right. Like, I'm just out of school so I'm just gonna kick back and do my thing at home. I really do too much.

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But me personally I, I wouldn't say I was affected by any of it just because again, like, I didn't really know too much people that were affected by it and I was just young and immature so I really didn't think about it too much at that

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time. Yeah. Um, do you know any, like if any of your other family members that lived by, like, did they have to evacuate? Um, did they have to evacuate soon? Like, just leave their homes basically, or did they have time to, like, pack things up and

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stuff like that? I had some family members that, like, as soon as the stuff was going on they kind of just dipped out to, like, I think San Francisco or somewhere more towards, like, the bay and stuff like that, like, pretty quick, you know, they kind

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of just, I don't think they were ever used to, like, a natural disaster like that happening. So they kind of just did their thing reacted and left and I don't blame them for that, you know. Ok. Um, but did you stay, like, home? Oh, you evacuated

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to? Yeah, I evacuated for a couple of hours and then I think after, like, I don't, I don't know how long it was after everything just calmed. Down in a sense or whatever, we ended up going back, uh, back to my place and then from there

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I just kind of just stayed there. Oh, ok. Um, and this was you with your mom and your grandma? Yeah. Ok. And I guess you get that role too. Oh, yeah. Um, ok. Let's see. Um, how did your teachers staff and other school personnel help, make

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this process easier if they did help or how were they understanding of the situation? Um, ah, dang, I don't remember too much but, um, I know some teachers kind of talked about, like, you know, like, if we have anything to talk about, you know, like they

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can talk to 1 to 1 and I'm pretty sure like, there was like some counseling stuff that was probably going on for, like, kids that did have their homes affected or somehow were affected by it. But off the top of my head, I can't remember too

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much of, like, how that situation was handled when we came back. Ok. Um, can you tell me about, like, your peer relationships? Like, what were your friends experiencing? How did, how do you think they impacted you, your experience in coping with stressors? I'd say for the

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most part, my friends are pretty similar to me, you know, like there was some for Shirley that, like, were like, dang, you know, this is pretty crazy. But there was just some friends again that were just young and mature and just making jokes out of like,

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anything dumb, you know, like just being on some young stuff. But for the most part, I mean, a lot of my friends, we were just making jokes and not about the situation but, like, just trying to, like, mess around, like how we usually did in general.

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Yeah. Like lighten up the mood, I guess too. Yeah. Ok. Um, how did your daily routine change after the impact of the fire? Was there fears of the fire coming back? Any paranoia that you experienced? Uh I don't think, I don't necessarily think I feared the

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fire coming back or anything but it was for sure. Some like I remember it being a and I was like, dang like this is a little weird and different, you know, like I wonder when it's gonna go back to like being clear skies and stuff like

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that. That was really the only thing I was really worried about but for the most part after everything cleared up, it kind of just went back to normal for me. Ok. Um And you, you mentioned that Raul stayed at your house, right? Yeah. Ok. Yeah, because

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he was telling me about that and I was like, hopefully Brian can do an interview because I need more people. Um Was your family affected financially? So like were your parents out of work? Um Were you guys suffering or struggling with groceries and how this, how

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did this impact your stress levels. Uh, thankfully they weren't impacted because, um, they were working kind of like, jobs like fast food and stuff like that. So, like, you know, like those, they never really closed down unless now, like, that's, the building is freaking burning. Yeah.

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I mean, it's fortunate in the aspect of like, yeah, we never really had to worry about, like, you know, rent being short or, like, not having anything. So for the most part, we had everything ready and work was an issue. So I felt pretty good mentally.

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Um after the event of the fire, have you set up a disaster plan or any safety preparedness um in place if this were to happen again, honestly, I, I haven't really done it really can done it like or wrote down a list too much, but I

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for sure they should get to it because again, like looking at it now, I'm like, dude, like, like your me like your pictures, you know, like having stuff ready to go is like so important now, you know, I know and some people just lost everything. So

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it's like, wow, like I should really get on that type. No. Yeah, like looking at it from their perspective. I'm like, dude, like no, I wouldn't want to lose my family pictures or anything honestly. Really? Um What would you say was the hardest part about this

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disaster and why? Oh mhm oh That's a good question. Wow. That's a good question. That's a good question. Uh, I don't, I don't know, necessarily would be the hardest but, ah, I would say maybe something to, it's just taking it, like, into consideration of, like, hey,

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like, this is real life, you know, like, you have to be prepared for this type of stuff, you know, like, you have to be ready to, like, you know, move your family out and this is, and that. Mhm. But that's the only thing I could say

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I could come up, come up right now off the top of my head. Yeah. Ok. Um If you had to relive the disaster, would you do anything differently? If so what 1000% I would have actually packed up my stuff, packed up my stuff and like one

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of my family the first time it happened and been ready to move or like, you know, been ready to like go somewhere else and just stay there until like, you know, they told us we could come back because I think we came back a little bit

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prematurely as well. But I would for surely be ready for a natural disaster like this now and take it way more serious than I did back in the day. Oh, yeah. Um What did you learn after the fire in this school? This is a broad question.

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So whatever pops into your head, I learned that natural disaster is like a real thing. Like you cannot really predict it because again, I remember the, the night right before the fires happened, it was so windy and I was like, this is really odd. Like, I've

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never felt anything like this, you know, and it kind of just shows you, like, it could happen out of nowhere. No. Yeah. Um, did you have, like, where you're, like, wow. Like, my school might burn down, like, thoughts? Hm. At the moment I don't think I

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really did. Honestly, I knew, like, it had hit the north side of Santa Rosa, but I, I just didn't personally know how big the fire was or, like, how would it get, but I really didn't think that my school is gonna burn up. So, you didn't

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really, did you keep up with alerts? Like, I, I think I was signed up for, like, the, what was it, like, something like the, or something like that? Yeah. Yeah. I signed up for that real quick too. I was like, oh, hell, no. Um, yeah, those

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are basically all my questions. Wow. Yeah. Um, let's see. Let's see. Yeah. Those are my questions. Oh, my God. Wow. Ok. Um, did you get the papers I sent you on? Yeah. Yeah.