Firefighters battle flames from a Santa Ana wind-driven brush fire called the Thomas Fire in Santa Paula.
It’s been more than 250 days since it last rained in southern California.
Approximately 8,000 firefighters continue to battle massive wildfires, like the record-setting Thomas Fire.
Related: Firefighters race to get control of California wildfires
But it’s not just people and infrastructure that are in danger — fires also threaten indigenous cultural sites.
That’s where Gilbert Romero comes in. He’s a fire captain for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, but he’s also one of the department’s “cultural specialists.”
Romero grew up wanting to protect Chumash heritage and culture. His father has done a similar job for the tribe for decades, going to construction sites and working with archeologists to protect sacred sites as a monitor.
“He still does it to this day — that's his love and his passion,” says Romero. “It’s one of mine as well.”
But Romero says it can be difficult balancing his roles as a firefighter and a cultural specialist.
“I know that we're not always going to save all the sites. There's going to be times where we need to save people's lives,” says Romero. “Cultural sites are important to us. But my number one job that I'm hired to do is [be a] firefighter.”
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.