‘The fire disproportionately impacted our most vulnerable population’ Elda Medina with her daughter, Alesandra, in Medford, Ore. (Paul Wilson for The Washington Post) (Paul Wilson) Megan Botel
Jan. 6, 2021
By Sept. 8, the day Elda Medina, 33, was supposed to go to her daughter’s elementary school to pick up supplies for a semester of distance learning, temperatures had been hovering above 100 degrees for weeks in southern Oregon.
Soon after Medina got to work she’s a medical assistant in Medford, Ore. she got an email from the school. The pickup had been postponed because of strong wind and thick smoke warnings.
Then, news of a fast-moving wildfire raging through southern Oregon broke, and her 11-year-old daughter called: A local sheriff was outside their trailer at San Rogue Mobile Park with a megaphone, ordering them to evacuate.