As the worst disaster raged around them, hired hands kept working to pay the bills
LA TimesAs an enormous plume of dark gray smoke rose hundreds of feet from the nearby Palisades fire on Wednesday afternoon, obscuring the sun and turning everything in the north end of Santa Monica an apocalyptic shade of orange, a small army of hired hands went about their business as if it were just another day on the job. Amid the tension and anxiety in this normally cozy seaside enclave — Santa Monica looks and feels like an extremely prosperous Midwestern suburb plunked on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean — landscapers kept trimming, builders kept building, and delivery trucks steered around electric cars packed with fleeing residents. “The sparks aren’t falling yet.” It was 3 p.m., and Rodriguez, who lives in Los Angeles but is originally from Querétaro, Mexico, had already put in an eight-hour day as one of the worst natural disasters in California history raged around him. “Tienen ganas pa trabajar — they really want to work!” A few blocks south, as residents struggled to shuttle precious keepsakes from their elegant homes — financial documents, irreplaceable family photos, an enormous stand-up double bass — to cars waiting in the street, Marvin Altamirano steered his UPS delivery truck between them. “It’s not like they’re gonna pay us to stop working and leave.” He had been making deliveries in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday, during the worst of the fire, but hadn’t gotten too close, he said.
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