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Transcript by DCSSD staff

Hello, I want to thank you and I appreciate all of your concerns and your emails to see if I am alright. I live here in central San Diego. I am OK. The picture at the beginning of this vlog, of the orange sun with smoke was caused by fires in areas that were not close to me, but farther out. I want to share my experiences as a videographer of the recent events. Wow. What an experience!! I was more than happy to volunteer my time to help DCS to make announcements on vlogs, instead we ended up going to Qualcomm Stadium (where the evacuation center is). This was a huge experience for me. I was to meet two DCS staff at the stadium but the traffic getting in was horrendous. Once we got in there it was chaos with all the traffic and people inside the stadium. While we were looking for the booth where Deaf people and interpreters were, we passed by food, beverages, water, and all kinds of supplies for the evacuees and volunteers. We arrived at DCS’ booth and people who were there all day were thrilled to see us. They were tired, worn out from being there all day and were glad to see new faces. We were ready to listen to their stories and share their experiences. Interpreters explained what happened the past 2 days in the previous Vlog. I originally thought, why should we have an interpreter table? It wasn’t until I listened to the interpreters’ story of why it’s very important for interpreters to be present for Deaf evacuees that made me appreciative of their services. It was very important for interpreters to be present for communication access, like the announcements– where the blankets and food were set up, where to sleep, medical services, and so forth. Deaf people would not have known if it were not for the interpreters present.

Also announcements were made throughout the day to let evacuees know what areas are being evacuated and when it’s safe to go back home. Suppose the announcer at Qualcomm said some areas are ok to return to and deaf people might have the opportunity to return home and not know it. It is very important for Deaf people who need to leave home to go directly to Qualcomm Gate A because there is interpreter access for deaf people and also to interact with others to get support and information about what’s going on. If you know any Deaf people who need to evacuate, please page and let Deaf people know where to go to because some of them may not be able to see the website vlog. This is how you can help support the Deaf Community. Wow, I really want to thank the interpreters for their hard work. They were responsible for notifying all the gate security and volunteers where to direct Deaf, hard of hearing and those people who wear hearing aids to the DCS booth at Gate A so they could get information and services at Qualcomm. Because of shift changes the interpreters had to remind the volunteers over and over on where the DCS booth was located. I really appreciate the guy who walked around with a sign, “ Deaf? Go to Gate A" in order to let Deaf people know where to go. Some deaf individuals saw the sign and came to the booth. Some signed up, giving permission to be on the video (Vlog) and others didn’t want to. Some deaf, as you saw in the previous vlog, shared their stories and their experiences. Now, I will share with you a story that I heard from an individual who didn’t want to be on video. This person experienced feeling awkward, unsure of what to do when they saw the fires coming closer. Should I evacuate or not? There is a system called Reverse 911--normally people call out to 911 but reverse 911 is when emergency personnel call you through various ways ( The following information is not entirely correct. Reverse 911 is limited to the emergency services calling you by phone and TTY)—by helicopters, police, and firefighters using loud speakers, driving around the neighborhood telling people to get out. The firefighter came to the door of a Deaf evacuee and angrily told this individual to get out. The firefighter would be upset thinking that the individual was refusing to evacuate but after communicating through writing, the miscommunication was resolved and the individual evacuated from the home. The experience of seeing fires coming close to the home and firefighter at the door yelling to get out has affected the Deaf person’s emotional wellbeing. DCS is working with different organizations to develop alternative ways to notify people, other than knocking on each door, of an emergency situation. Also DCS is working to make sure there is communication access for everyone, not only to those who use ASL, but for hard of hearing and so forth. It’s a relief to know that to date there have been no reported deaths or injuries in the Deaf community. DCS informed me that they have been really working very hard to educate OES (Office of Emergency Services) that they must allow ASL interpreters to be present during news conferences because some people cannot read closed captioning. Because of this, interpreters have been on the news during the firestorm. DCS will be more prepared for future disasters because of our experiences during this firestorm. DCS will continue to work to educate other organizations about communication access for deaf people. We have been through a lot together.