Wildfire smog is deadly—but LA’s Covid mask organizers have it covered

Los Angeles has been hit with its worst-ever wildfires, which continue to blaze, already claiming at least ten lives and devastating air quality—just as a spate of mask bans have been enacted or proposed around the country, including in LA itself.

Since authorities began issuing evacuation orders across the area, Joaquín Beltrán, a community organizer and software engineer, has been visiting centers to hand out masks. Beltrán still takes Covid-19 seriously, as do organizers with Mask Bloc LA, a mutual aid group that Beltrán linked up with, which has also been visiting evacuation shelters to hand out N95 and KN95 masks.

Personally handed out well over 1,000 respirators here at the Pasadena Convention Center to every person awake. @PasadenaGov @lapublichealth @RedCross, the people want to be protected from hazardous wildfire smoke. Please set up a system and supply respirators immediately. pic.twitter.com/C6OFzytjpr

— Joaquín Beltrán Free Palestine (@joaquinlife) January 8, 2025

For people involved in Covid mask organizing, handing out masks serves two purposes: protection from harmful wildfire smog and against infectious diseases. I spoke to Beltrán about his experience working to keep his community safe, even as this dual-purpose public health tool has become an increasingly villainized symbol of the culture wars.

What led you to get involved in mask organizing?

In March of 2020, I realized that the government was not coming to save us, that we needed to save ourselves. I started a fundraiser right away and distributed respirators, KN95s, to the county hospitals here. I [looked at] the numbers in Italy, and I saw the same growth rate here in the United States, and knew it was going to be disastrous for all our communities. We’re all connected in this. By making sure that other people are safe, we are safer as well.

Why was it such a priority to bring masks to evacuation centers?

Earlier this week, they were evacuating seniors from a care facility, with the fire raging, and it just broke my heart. I have masks. I’m like, ‘Okay, I need to do something.” The masks I had, I took them to All Saints Church [in Pasadena].

I was also aware that the Pasadena Convention Center was receiving people, so I went there. I had given out all the masks I had already. So I’m asking them, “Do you guys have respirators?” The Red Cross didn’t. The city didn’t. I asked the police, they didn’t have any. It was past eleven, so places like Home Depot that would sell them were closed. I made a video saying that we needed respirators to pass out to people. A lot of people are sending messages, and one of them was from Mask Bloc LA; they had enough where I didn’t have to go all over the city to pick up the other ones too, well over a thousand masks.

Masks protect you from any [airborne] disease, and there’s flu that’s increasing as well. To add to that, the toxic dangers of particulate matter from the wildfire smoke are incredibly harmful to everybody, but in particular, everyone who’s already at high risk [for respiratory complications].

What have been some of the reactions you’ve faced when handing out masks?

They were so grateful. A lot of the seniors didn’t know how to put them on, so I had to. It’s a devastating event. The government did not have the supplies, and instead, it was provided and distributed just by community members. It shows how incredible our community members are, and how quickly they’ll step up to help our neighbors.

Do you hope that these wildfires can convince people that a mask ban in Los Angeles, which Mayor Karen Bass has raised as a possibility, would be a bad idea?

I think we’re in the state of emergency we’re in right now because our government is focused on ridiculous ideas like mask bans to target people who are protesting against the genocide of the people of Palestine. This is a wake-up call that they need to not be focused on things that harm members of the community, like mask bans, and instead on resources that protect us, like having more firefighters and more water [supply] to fight fires, and providing masks.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. To seek masks from Mask Block LA, find them on X .