Nick Gerda
is an accountability reporter who has covered local government in Southern California for more than a decade.
Published April 17, 2024 5:00 AM
Rhiannon Do in a YouTube video posted in August 2021 by the Steinberg Institute, a mental health policy advocacy group, where she was a legislative intern.
The backstory: Rhiannon Do is the 22-year-old daughter of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do. LAist uncovered that he directed more than $13 million to a nonprofit that records show Rhiannon Do helped lead over the last two years. The vast majority of the money was directed outside of the public’s view and did not appear on public agendas. Andrew Do did not publicly disclose his family ties before awarding the funds.
What she said: In a brief email exchange with LAist, Rhiannon Do said her role was limited to mental health services and a different meals program from the one under scrutiny. She said she was not a director or officer of the overall nonprofit, and never had any role in its finances. She also says she no longer works for Viet America Society. The comments were her first public statements since LAist’s investigation began in November.
Records show otherwise: LAist has obtained nine different public records that show her in top-level leadership positions at the nonprofit during the timeframe under scrutiny, including president, officer and director. Some were signed by Rhiannon Do herself. In her replies to LAist, she didn’t explain those records after LAist asked about them.
Viet America Society’s lawyer cites “sloppiness” and negligence": There [were] a lot of things that were screwed up,” the nonprofit's attorney said when asked about the documents showing Rhiannon Do leading the group. “It doesn’t make them true,” he said. “It just makes them negligent.”
Do previously did not respond to LAist, but answered some questions by email early this month. She told LAist: “It has been amply shown that I was never an officer or director for VAS.”
She did not provide information showing that was the case.
Do did not answer follow-up questions asking how she explains those records.
Do is a second year law student at UC Irvine, and the daughter of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do and Cheri Pham, the assistant presiding judge of O.C. Superior Court.
The responses to LAist — signed “Rhiannon Do” — were from an email address that, according to records LAist obtained from the county, Rhiannon Do used to communicate with county staff. In one of those emails, from February 2022, Rhiannon Do represented herself as Viet America Society’s executive director.
The funding being questioned by county staff was tied to COVID-relief funded meals earmarked for residents in need during the pandemic.
Rhiannon Do says her role was limited
Rhiannon Do said that at Viet America Society she worked on mental health services — and was not connected to millions in coronavirus relief dollars that her father directed to the group.
Catch up on the investigation
In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions in public taxpayer dollars were spent. In total, LAist has uncovered over $13 million in public money that went to a little-known nonprofit that records state was led on and off by Rhiannon Do, the now 22-year-old daughter of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do. Most of that money was directed to the group by Supervisor Do outside of the public’s view and never appeared on public meeting agendas. He did not publicly disclose his family ties.
Much of the known funding came from federal coronavirus relief money.
Since we started reporting, we’ve also uncovered the group is nearly two years overdue in completing a required audit into whether the meal funds were spent appropriately. A second required audit is 10-months overdue.
And we found the amount of taxpayer money directed to the nonprofit was much larger than initially known. It totals at least $13.5 million in county funding — tallied from government records obtained and published by LAist.
After our reporting, O.C. officials wrote demand letters to the nonprofit saying millions in funding were unaccounted for. They warned it could be forced to repay the funds.
And, last month, we found the nonprofit missed a deadline set by county officials to provide proof about how funding for meals were spent.
“I have worked for the past 3 years to help them stand up a mental health clinic, which was the first of its kind for the Vietnamese American community in Orange County,” she wrote.
The clinic — Warner Wellness Center — received authorizations for up to $3.1 million in county-funded subcontracts, which her father voted to fund without publicly disclosing his close family connection.
County records show Rhiannon Do signed $375,000 of those subcontracts as president of Viet America Society, which does business under the Warner Wellness name. Amid questions about her qualifications to lead a mental health clinic, Rhiannon Do’s father has pointed to her undergraduate internship working on mental health legislation at the Steinberg Institute as her experience.
As for her role at Viet America Society, Rhiannon Do wrote to LAist that she “was later hired to work on a proposal for the Elderly Nutrition Program, a food service program for seniors, which was completely unrelated to Covid and any Covid funding.”
“I was never involved in any of the Covid meal gap programs or have ever played any role in the back office or financial side of VAS,” she added.
Millions have gone unaccounted for
At Supervisor Do’s direction, Viet America Society has received more than $9 million from the county to feed needy residents, plus $1 million to build a Vietnam War memorial. He also joined votes to fund up to $3.1 million in mental health subcontracts for the group, all without disclosing his close family connection.
Supervisor Do has not responded to multiple interview requests from LAist over the past six months. In a November interview with another news outlet, he defended his decisions to award money to his daughter’s group without public disclosure, saying he wasn’t required to disclose his family connection.
At issue, as county officials warned in a series of letters in February: the group has failed to document what happened with the first year-and-a-half of meal funding it directly received from the county, totaling $2.7 million in 2021 and the first half of 2022.
County officials set mid-March deadlines for Viet America Society to provide long overdue proof of how that money was used. The nonprofit missed the first deadline, which covered funding for the first half of 2021.
Then, the day after the March 14 deadline, a lawyer for the group said it was working to provide the county what it’s looking for.
Nearly a month later, the group has not yet provided any more documents, according to county spokesperson Jennifer Ayari. She responded via email late last week to questions from LAist.
The county’s extended deadline for Viet America Society to submit overdue documents is now April 24 at 5 p.m., Ayari wrote.
Those documents include accounting records, a list of who received meals, the dates meals were delivered, delivery addresses and contact info for the people who received meals.
Bridgecreek Plaza strip mall, which has offices for Viet America Society and Warner Wellness in Huntington Beach.
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Brian Feinzimer
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LAist
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The timeframe for the meals funding that’s under scrutiny overlaps with Rhiannon Do representing herself as the nonprofit’s executive director, in the February 2022 email to a county executive.
What records show about Rhiannon Do's role
LAist has obtained nine different public records listing Rhiannon Do as one of the group’s top leaders, including instances of her signatures as VAS’s president on county-funded subcontracts. Among the records:
The nonprofit’s original public tax filing for 2022, which marked Rhiannon Do as the only officer and only director during calendar year 2022. It states it was signed under penalty of perjury in October 2023 by Peter Pham, the group’s founder.
October 2023 board meeting minutes for Viet America Society, which showed Rhiannon Do as one of the group’s three directors and officers, and participating in decisions at the meeting. They show her joining a vote with the two other directors — Peter Pham and Dinh Mai – in authorizing Pham and Mai to sign checks from the nonprofit’s bank account.
Rhiannon Do signed as Viet America Society’s president on two county-fundedsubcontracts for mental health outreach services, totaling $375,000.
In her recent email exchange with LAist, Rhiannon Do said she’s parted ways with Viet America Society.
“I am also no longer with VAS or the Warner Wellness Center,” she said, referring to the name the nonprofit has used for its mental health work.
She didn’t respond to a follow-up email asking why she left.
In February, Viet America Society was informed it would no longer be allowed to perform its county-funded mental health work. That work was funded through subcontracts with the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community (OCAPICA) and the OC chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI OC).
Nonprofit attorney: ‘A lot of things that were screwed up’
In a phone interview with LAist this week, Sterling Scott Winchell, Viet America Society’s lawyer, told LAist that Rhiannon Do “was basically just a caseworker.” He attributed the paper trail showing otherwise to “sloppiness” and negligence.
“Contracts were written with the wrong name on them. She never held that title. Things happen,” Winchell said last week in his first interview with LAist.
“I can speculate for you,” he added. “There was a previous entity, and she may have been an officer in that before the funding started. But I don’t know why the contracts and so forth were drafted that way. I think it was just sloppiness."
He didn’t specify what that entity was. But Rhiannon Do and two other VAS leaders were listed as officers starting in mid 2021 for a private company — Behavioral Health Solutions — that operated under the Warner Wellness name before Viet America Society took on the name in late 2022, according to state and county registration records.
Many of the records showing Rhiannon Do in leadership at Viet America Society — including the subcontracts and directors meeting minutes — are dated many months after Behavioral Health Solutions informed the state in early January 2023 that it had shut down.
LAist asked Winchell about the paper trail showing Rhiannon Do in top leadership positions at the group, including president, vice president, director and officer.
“Yeah, I would agree with you. There [were] a lot of things that were screwed up. It doesn’t make them true, it just makes them negligent,” Winchell said.
Winchell was Supervisor Do’s appointee to the county ethics commission from 2018 to 2023. He told the county he was hired in late February to represent the nonprofit.
Winchell recently told the OC Register that the nonprofit has refiled its 2022 tax filing without Rhiannon Do’s name as an officer. An amended version of the filing, marked as received by the state Attorney General’s charity registry on March 25, no longer lists her as an officer. It has a note at the end stating it was amended to “Remove Rhiannon Do out” and that “She is not an officer of Viet America Society.”
Attorney also says answers will come in audit
Winchell said the county’s questions would be straightened out in an upcoming audit commissioned by the nonprofit. That audit was required under its county contract, and is nearly two years overdue.
In its demand letters in February, the county warned that it could make the nonprofit repay the money if it doesn’t prove what happened with it.
Winchell said the nonprofit and the county are working closely.
“We’re working together toward a common goal. Our success is their success. It’s not adversarial,” he said. “I understand that controversy gets clicks. But there’s no adversarial relationship between these parties. We’re working together."
“They fell behind on some administrative issues, so they hired me,” he added of the nonprofit.
Winchell said the audit will provide answers about how the money was spent.
Asked if all of the dollars provided to the group for meals went to providing meals, Winchell said: “That’s my understanding.”
“If it’s not the case, the audit will reveal that,” he continued. “My understanding is that all the money — whatever money’s been used, has gone to where it should go.”
Winchell said he thinks the audit will be completed by the end of June.
A county spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that the county is currently working with Viet America Society on compliance requirements.
In her emailed responses to LAist, Rhiannon Do said there was nothing improper about how Viet America Society’s funding was used.
The “insinuation that there was something untoward with the use of VAS funds is fabricated” and a “false narrative,” wrote Do.
In a follow-up email, she said she never “played any role in the back office or financial side of VAS.”
How to watchdog local government
One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention.
Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.
Firefighters fight a warehouse fire in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Sunday, June 21, 2026.
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Jae C. Hong
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AP Photo
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Topline:
City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto’s office hasn’t said if it’s investigating the Lineage fire. Two candidates for city attorney say the office should have acted immediately.
Why it matters: Los Angeles fire investigators stopped short of identifying what caused the June fire at the Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights. The news this week leaves the question of who will ultimately be held responsible for the costly cleanup and harm suffered by residents unresolved.
Residents affected: People affected by the fire want the city to help recover their costs and hold companies involved accountable for the damage done. They also want stronger protections in place against similar crises in the future.
Read on... for more on what the two candidates for city attorney say about investigating the fire.
Los Angeles fire investigators stopped short of identifying what caused the June fire at the Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights. The news this week leaves the question of who will ultimately be held responsible for the costly cleanup and harm suffered by residents unresolved.
People affected by the fire want the city to help recover their costs and hold companies involved accountable for the damage done. They also want stronger protections in place against similar crises in the future.
Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council have repeatedly asked the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office to advise them on what legal options are available.
Three months after the fire sent toxic smoke into the air and left 88 million pounds of rotting food to be removed, it’s unclear what, if anything, the city attorney’s office has done in response to those requests.
A City Council motion shows that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto was supposed to brief the council within 15 days in closed session about possible litigation. She has yet to do so, and when she does, it’s unlikely the public will be provided the report or a summary of its details.
Councilmember Ysabel Jurado ushered that motion through the City Council, asking the city attorney to report in closed session what legal options are available, including potential civil claims, cost-recovery strategies and action against Lineage Logistics or any other responsible party. Her spokesperson said the City Council has not received that report.
When asked about this, a spokesperson for Feldstein Soto told The LA Local, “We do not comment on pending investigations or litigation.” When we followed up, they stopped responding.
The city attorney’s powers are no secret, and both candidates for city attorney say the office should be more transparent. They have also vowed to take a more public approach to holding Lineage and other companies accountable for the fire if elected.
So, what can the city attorney do?
The Los Angeles city attorney is an independent elected official who does not report directly to the mayor. The mayor and City Council can ask the city attorney to investigate or pursue litigation, but the city attorney has the final say.
The office is responsible for prosecuting some misdemeanor crimes, providing legal advice to elected officials and city agencies, defending the city in civil litigation and reviewing possible policy changes when needed.
California’s unfair competition law gives the city attorney the authority to investigate businesses believed to have broken the law, deceived the public or engaged in unfair practices. The city attorney can proactively investigate those concerns. The law also allows the city attorney to pursue unfair competition cases on behalf of Californians.
Those vying to be the next city attorney say they will use that authority to pursue an investigation of the Lineage warehouse fire.
Marissa Roy, one of two candidates for city attorney, has worked in civil rights and corporate accountability law for both the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Justice. She has worked on cases ranging from small-business wage theft to California’s $17 billion settlement with tech giant Meta.
Marissa Roy is running for Los Angeles city attorney.
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Courtesy of the Marissa Roy campaign
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John McKinney, who currently serves as a deputy district attorney, is running against Roy.
Roy said she would have publicly announced an investigation into the cause of the fire on day one, and plans to if elected. That investigation would center on who started the fire, if building conditions might have made the fire worse or more difficult to put out and if the companies involved deceived the public about what they knew about the fire and its hazards.
“The decision whether or not to investigate Lineage Logistics and associated companies and to begin this type of litigation lies with one elected official alone: the city attorney,” Roy told The LA Local.
John McKinney is running for Los Angeles city attorney.
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Courtesy of the John McKinney campaign
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McKinney also said he would publicly announce an investigation if elected, adding that the people living in this neighborhood should not have to fight for justice on their own.
“My office will work with investigators to examine every potential violation, including applicable fire, building, safety and hazardous-material laws,” he told The LA Local. “If the evidence supports criminal charges, we will pursue them.”
What the law says about corporate accountability
The law empowers the city attorney to pursue accountability from companies that have harmed the people of L.A. But it doesn’t end there. If the investigation finds a broader pattern of misconduct outside city limits, the city attorney can investigate that too.
“These kinds of actions are not just for the people of the city but for people all over the state,” said Ted Mermin, executive director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Consumer Law and Economic Justice.
Such cases, Mermin added, can lead to restitution for the direct losses people suffered, a court order for companies to make corrective actions to the way they do business and civil fines to pay for remediation and future enforcement efforts.
“The whole goal of that lawsuit would be to prevent any of the responsible companies from engaging in negligent behavior or unlawful behavior again, but then also to win back recovery that could be reinvested in communities,” Roy said.
If this suit is successful, any damages won from the suit could fund future greening projects, pollution cleanup and projects that build health resources for the communities that were harmed, Roy added.
McKinney similarly said that the goal of such a suit would be to aid the communities most harmed.
“We will also use every appropriate civil, environmental and public-nuisance remedy to compel a timely cleanup, recover public costs and ensure those responsible—not the community—pay for remediation and recovery,” McKinney added.
What could accountability look like for the Lineage fire?
Who is responsible for the fire is still openly being debated. After the cleanup was finished, Lineage Logistics sued solar contractors, Altus Power and Pearce Services, which it claims are responsible for the fire. Those companies denied the allegations.
LAFD concluded its investigation on Tuesday and reported that the fire appeared to have started on the roof of the building near electrical equipment but did not determine what caused it.
The city attorney, however, can open a broader investigation into the conduct of businesses and their leadership before and after the fire. The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office has pursued similar cases in the past.
In 2015, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer sued Wells Fargo over allegations it incentivized bankers to fraudulently open accounts to boost its numbers. It resulted in a $185 million settlement with the city. The U.S. Attorney’s Office eventually found similar fraud by the bank around the country, leading to a $3 billion settlement and more consumer protections.
Feldstein Soto has pursued cases under unfair competition law in the past. She filed a suit against a group of companies alleged to have operated a short-term rental price-gouging operation about two months after the 2025 wildfires. The suit is ongoing.
Meanwhile, Angelenos affected have filed individual and class-action lawsuits against Lineage and related businesses in a piecemeal attempt to recover damages for the harm they experienced.
But no focused legal effort has been publicly launched by the city attorney in connection with the Lineage warehouse fire.
Roy said the city is not using all of its resources to lead amid the crisis that unfolded when the fire broke out.
“The full potential of the City Attorney’s Office is exactly in these situations where we can vigorously hold corporations accountable for endangering our communities,” Roy said. “That’s how we prevent this in the future, how we are able to make people whole, and are able to address the harm they’ve experienced.”
McKinney said the city attorney’s response to the fire has not been fast enough.
“When a company’s conduct puts people’s health, homes, businesses or quality of life at risk, the City Attorney must act decisively,” he said. “As a career prosecutor, I believe the City must follow the evidence wherever it leads, enforce the law without fear or favor, and pursue every available remedy against those legally responsible.”
Roy said that too often the most vulnerable Angelenos have been left to fend for themselves in moments of crisis. Corporate pollution, she said, isn’t just an environmental justice issue. “It’s a racial justice issue and it’s an economic justice issue.”
“These communities are communities that have been consistently ignored and underserved,” Roy added. “And it’s not fair to continue to expect them to take on some of the largest companies in the country.”
A Los Angeles Police Department vehicle is parked outside the LAPD headquarters downtown Los Angeles on July 8, 2022.
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Damian Dovarganes
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Associated Press
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Topline:
A group of residents is forming a neighborhood watch group after the LAPD reported at least six home burglaries over a three-week period this summer in the Leimert Park and Angeles Mesa neighborhoods of South L.A.
Why now: The LAPD said this represents a sharp rise in home burglaries for areas that are usually quiet. The burglary-related incidents were reported between Aug. 16 and Sept. 10, and stretched from 46th Street to 52nd Street between 6th and 11th Avenues, according to LAPD’s crime data. The data included incidents involving individuals most likely climbing through open windows or an unlocked side door.
The backstory: The areas affected by these burglaries are in L.A. City Council District 8, represented by Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson.
What you can do: If you see someone who appears to be watching your or a neighbor’s home, alert neighbors, call 911 or (877) 275-5273.
A group of residents is forming a neighborhood watch group after the LAPD reported at least six home burglaries over a three-week period this summer in the Leimert Park and Angeles Mesa neighborhoods of South L.A.
LAPD said this represents a sharp rise in home burglaries for areas that are usually quiet.
The burglary-related incidents were reported between Aug. 16 and Sept. 10, and stretched from 46th Street to 52nd Street between 6th and 11th Avenues, according to LAPD’s crime data. The data included incidents involving individuals most likely climbing through open windows or an unlocked side door.
Concern for safety and frustration came to a head at a Sept. 14 meeting, where locals gathered at Galilee Baptist Church for the group’s second monthly meeting. The nearly two-hour gathering gave neighbors an opportunity to share experiences, compare surveillance footage and discuss ways to protect the community.
Jeffrey, who lives on 6th Avenue and did not provide his last name for privacy and safety reasons, said most incidents occurred during daylight hours, when residents may have been at work or picking up children.
“I’ve lived here over 10 years, and this is the first time that I’ve felt like a big ramp-up of this happening,” said Jeffrey, whose home was burglarized last month. “We’ve personally contacted our representatives, trying to get them and I’ve filed burglary reports with the local police department. I’ve gotten zero response.”
During the meeting, some residents said surveillance footage appeared to show the same group of individuals targeting homes in the neighborhood. LAPD is aware of the individuals suspected of these crimes, according to Paul Evleth, a senior lead officer with LAPD’s Southwest Division.
In one Sept. 7 incident, a suspect reportedly left after realizing someone was home. On Sept. 10, officers stated that one suspect was known to LAPD from an earlier burglary arrest.
The most recent break-in took place Sept. 17 in the 4700 block of Van Ness Avenue, according to Evleth. The resident found shattered glass, indicating the windows and doors were locked, Evleth said.
Jackie, who also did not provide her last name for privacy and safety reasons, told The LA Local her home was burglarized earlier this month. She wants a City Council representative to visit the neighborhood and hear directly from residents.
The areas affected by these burglaries are in L.A. City Council District 8, represented by Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson.
Residents gather at Galilee Baptist Church on Sept. 14, 2026, to discuss how to combat a rise in burglaries in their South LA neighborhoods.
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LaMonica Peter
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The LA Local
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Cerrina Tayag-Rivera, a spokesperson for Harris-Dawson, responded via email to residents’ concerns.
“No one should feel unsafe in their homes, and our office is working with law enforcement to ask for increased patrols and ensure all investigations are pursued,” Tayag-Rivera wrote, adding that residents can reach out to their district office at (213) 485-7616 with questions or concerns.
“We want to serve as a resource for our residents, connecting them with everything they need to feel safe,” she wrote.
However, Jackie, one of the residents who attended the meeting, said “it would serve him [Harris-Dawson] to have one of his staff come into our neighborhood to hear about the frequency of this happening and for them to also invest in community safety.”
Liz Norris, one of the organizers of the neighborhood watch group, said they’re “just asking for help” in making their community safe where people can walk freely with their dogs and families.
Evleth recommended that residents have surveillance cameras installed inside and outside of their homes, in addition to a professionally installed security system. If an alarm company contacts the resident, having interior cameras allows them to see inside the home remotely and if someone may still be inside.
If you see someone who appears to be watching your or a neighbor’s home, alert neighbors, call 911 or (877) 275-5273.
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A patient gets treated at an AltaMed mobile health clinic in the aftermath of the Lineage warehouse fire.
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Courtesy of AltaMed
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Topline:
Depression increased 36% and anxiety increased 22% among patients seen at AltaMed after the Lineage warehouse fire, according to a new report released Thursday.
Why it matters: The report, released nearly 100 days after the Lineage fire broke out, compares the patients treated within a 5-mile radius of the Lineage warehouse since June 17 with patients treated in the same period in 2025. The clinic estimates about 40,000 patients were seen during that period.
More findings: The numbers also revealed a 27.8% increase in gastrointestinal concerns, a 24.2% increase in eye and throat irritation and a 19.9% increase in respiratory diagnoses within the same timeframe.
Depression increased 36% and anxiety increased 22% among patients seen at AltaMed after the Lineage warehouse fire, according to a new report released Thursday.
The report, released nearly 100 days after the Lineage fire broke out, compares the patients treated within a 5-mile radius of the Lineage warehouse since June 17 with patients treated in the same period in 2025. The clinic estimates about 40,000 patients were seen during that period.
The numbers also revealed a 27.8% increase in gastrointestinal concerns, a 24.2% increase in eye and throat irritation and a 19.9% increase in respiratory diagnoses within the same timeframe.
“On their own, the data do not establish that the fire caused each of these increases, but they definitely help us identify trends,” said Dr. David Escobar, regional medical director for AltaMed, at a press conference Thursday at Lou Costello Recreation Center.
“Patients were coming to me frequently with headache, throat irritation, eye irritation, and traumatic stress,” Escobar said.
A majority of patients who were evaluated for behavioral health issues were treated through talk therapy and trauma therapy, Escobar said.
Chronic stress and depression have disrupted Elizabeth Lopez’s daily life in the months after the fire. Lopez lives in the Estrada Courts housing complex and said she experienced the smoke, smell and physical symptoms after the fire, including eye irritation and ongoing asthma attacks.
The inability to leave her home during heat waves over the summer and having to endure the horrible smell left her feeling defeated and with no motivation, Lopez said. Her doctor prescribed her antidepressants.
“I’ve never been on depression [medication],” Lopez said. “I didn’t have that energy that I used to have. I had always been a very active person…and I just wasn’t.”
Lopez is a health promoter for AltaMed and said she referred her neighbors to AltaMed mobile health clinics to get treated for similar symptoms.
Since June 23, AltaMed has deployed its mobile health unit at Lou Costello Recreation Center, Pecan Recreation Center, and the Robert Louis Stevenson Branch Library, providing clinical evaluations, respiratory care, medication access, and connections to social support to help residents navigate recovery.
Escobar emphasized that the needs of the patients he cared for in Boyle Heights did not end when the fire was knocked down on June 24.
“Even when the fire was out, patients were still coming to me in my clinic personally with ongoing new or recurring symptoms…which tells me clinically there’s still exposure happening of some kind or another,” Escobar said. “What concerns me the most as a physician clinically is that I still do not know exactly what my patients were exposed to.”
Escobar told Boyle Heights Beat that the vast majority of AltaMed patients in Boyle Heights and East L.A. have Medi-Cal and Medicare. The health provider also serves residents without insurance and offers sliding scale fees.
In August, a St. John’s Community Health report also revealed the physical and mental toll that the fire had on patients seen at its mobile clinics. Of the 1,306 patients seen between June 17 and July 31, 36% had serious health problems attributed to smoke and toxic chemical exposure, including acute upper respiratory infections, eye disorders and asthma exacerbation. Dozens of patients were prescribed anxiety and/or sleep medication to treat acute stress after the fire.
Erin Stone
traveled by boat to Santa Rosa Island this week to report this article.
Published September 25, 2026 10:21 AM
A Torrey pine tree, seen in June, that survived the Santa Rosa Island Fire
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National Park Service
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inciweb.wildfire.gov
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Topline:
After a fire scorched more than a third of Santa Rosa Island this spring, the race is on to protect what remains of a beloved grove of rare Torrey pines.
Why it matters: The island’s grove of Torrey pine trees, a subspecies found nowhere else on the planet, bore much of the worst damage. Early surveys estimate as much as 80% of the rare trees will perish.
Why now: The biggest worry is how intense El Niño-driven rains may erode soil in the charred remains of the grove.
Read on ... to learn how officials and volunteers are working together ahead of the rainy season — and what you can do to help.
After a fire scorched more than a third of Santa Rosa Island this spring, the race is on to protect what remains of a beloved grove of rare Torrey pines.
The fire sparked in mid-May after a sailor wrecked his boat on the island’s rugged southeastern shore. It grew to more than 18,000 acres, becoming the largest fire ever recorded on the Channel Islands.
The island’s grove of Torrey pine trees, a subspecies found nowhere else on the planet, bore much of the worst damage. Early surveys estimate as much as 80% of the rare trees will perish. Experts with the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden are working on a more complete analysis.
Now, the biggest worry is how intense El Niño-driven rains may erode soil in the charred remains of the grove.
Restoration ecologist Michelle Gados holds Torrey pine seeds gathered from the burn scar.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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“ It keeps me up at night,” said Michelle Gados, a restoration ecologist with the California Institute of Environmental Studies and a lead on the restoration effort. “I just hope it's not as bad as they predict because this would just be really bad timing. … If you get too much too fast, then all that soil could slide down the slopes.”
The pines released thousands of seeds during the fire — more than 14,000 have been collected by Gados’ team, park staff and other partners since the fire, while thousands more seeds remain in the charred soil.
“ So we're really concerned about all that seed being washed out to sea,” Gados said.
She said keeping the soil intact in the grove is key to supporting surviving trees and to planting hundreds of Torrey pines after the rainy season. The goal is to plant 300 to 500 Torrey pines annually over the next four years.
To prevent erosion, biologists, fire crews and dedicated volunteers have been racing for nearly four months to build 500 wattles — essentially 18-foot cigars of rolled-up biodegradable material. The fiber cylinders can be bought pre-made, but on the island, they have to be built from scratch to avoid introducing any nonnative plants. They’re made of a tightly rolled coir blanket, or coconut husk fiber, around five layers of jute fabric. The wattles will be installed in some of the most erosion-prone areas identified in the Torrey pine grove.
What’s next for public access to Santa Rosa Island — and how to help
The islands’ trails will be closed at least through next summer, potentially for a year or more. Park officials plan to begin trail repairs in spring 2027.
Water Canyon Campground and designated backcountry beach camping areas in the northwest and southwest quadrants of Santa Rosa Island will reopen Oct. 14.
If you want to join the next volunteering trip, you can reach out to the National Park Service at chis_volunteer@nps.gov or the California Institute of Environmental Studies at mike_parker@ciesresearch.org.
“This is kind of a make-your-own option that we have developed through other projects that have been ongoing for about a decade and have worked really well,” said David Mazurkiewicz, a wildlife biologist with Channel Islands National Park, and the implementation lead for the post-fire response on Santa Rosa.
He said they expect to have all 500 rolled and installed by the end of October, just as the official rainy season begins.
The charred grove of Torrey pines on Santa Rosa Island as seen from a boat this week. Early surveys estimate 60% to 80% of the trees will perish from the fire. Some trees are showing new growth today, but it's unclear how they'll fare long-term.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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Volunteers are key to the effort
Originally, the park was planning to work with fire crews from across the state and country, but a busy fire season across the West pulled those crews elsewhere, Mazurkiewicz said. So dozens of dedicated volunteers have stepped in.
The latest volunteer cohort of about 20 went to the island this week, where for several days they’ll camp and spend their days rolling wattles.
David Rush of Riverside was there for the second time since the fire.
“The Torrey pines, they're the most endangered pine on the planet, so it's a worthy cause,” he said. “We're killing the earth, and just doing, in my own little way, something to help, it's cool.”
Hundreds of wattles will be installed in the Torrey pine grove on Santa Rosa Island to help prevent erosion during winter rains.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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Volunteers prepare to roll a wattle made of a coir blanket and five layers of jute on Santa Rosa Island.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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Volunteers, including CSU Channel Islands student Carlos Cruz, right, complete the rolling a wattle on Santa Rosa Island.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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Carlos Cruz, a first-year student at Cal State Channel Islands, joined this round, too. With Indigenous roots in Oaxaca, Mexico, he felt called to the work to honor and restore land that for millennia was home to and tended by Chumash people.
“ I think that it’s important to understand and … see, as folks residing on spiritual lands, how we could come together,” he said.
On Wi'ma, Santa Rosa Island
The fire is just the latest moment of upheaval in the island’s long history. Birthed from shifting tectonic plates and volcanic lava flows more than 15 million years ago, then eventually named Wi'ma and inhabited by Chumash people for millennia, the island as we know it today was reshaped by European settlers. Experts say the recent fire was made worse by nonnative grasses that have covered it since ranching began here in the mid-1800s, after European settlement.
Nonnative livestock and game species such as feral pigs, cattle, horses, deer and elk destroyed the island’s forest of native oaks and bishop pines, as well as over 75% of the island's native vegetation.
It’s only been in the last decade-and-a-half that, thanks to conservation efforts since the islands became a national park in 1980, native plant and animal life have begun to return, including the once-nearly extinct endemic Santa Rosa Island fox. Mazurkiewicz said officials have not found many carcasses of the foxes in the burn scar, and expect their population to remain stable despite the fire.
A Santa Rosa Island fox.
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Gustav Verdouw
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npgallery.nps.gov
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Park officials have also been working for more than a decade to restore an ancient oak and bishop pine forest, or “cloud forest,” named for the trees’ ability to catch heavy ocean fog and harvest its water, which then condenses and drips to the chaparral below their branches. That ecosystem, essential habitat for native species, is slowly being restored, and was largely untouched by the recent fire.
In areas that were once just dirt, there are now native shrubs like toyon, sage scrub, lupin and lemonade berry. And in recent years, in the absence of nonnative mammals, Torrey pines have actually been growing beyond their traditional footprint on the island as well — some of those seem to have survived the fire.
Cause for hope
In the burn scar, other signs of hope are sprouting. On a recent afternoon, Mazurkiewicz pointed to light green grass emerging from the charred hillsides.
“All that green is actually native vegetation, and it just was waiting for a little breathing room,” Mazurkiewicz said.
In some ways, he said, the fire may prove beneficial — by clearing out the invasive nonnative grasses that have choked much of the island’s flora.
A dusting of light green on this burned hillside are native grasses sprouting where invasive, nonnative grasses once dominated.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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David Mazurkiewicz, a wildlife biologist with Channel Islands National Park, and the implementation lead for the post-fire response on Santa Rosa, describes the importance of installing wattles in the island's charred Torrey pine grove.
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Erin Stone
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LAist
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Native plants like the endemic manzanita — which hasn’t done so well since the fire — as well as other native shrubs, grasses and trees are propagated at the island’s nursery. A newly-built shade house will soon be the home of Torrey pine seedlings that will eventually be replanted in the burn scar.
But for now, how the Torrey pine grove will fare is unclear. One factor that could play a big part in its future is how severe the upcoming rains will be.
“We don’t know until we get some rain, and we can see whether the trees that are pushing back out are going to hold,” Mazurkiewicz said. “The grove was heavily impacted. … A lot of those trees are not going to make it. But there's also outliers that look a little more encouraging.”
