People with disabilities at higher risk in California wildfires

As the Eaton Fire ravaged part of Los Angeles, Galen Buckwalter said he had no choice but to ride his wheelchair through the dark roads of his Sierra Madre neighborhood -- after the city was left without power.

The streets were sprinkled with branches and debris, the wind howling and thick clouds of smoke approaching behind him, he said, but he tried to remain calm and focused with just one goal in mind: make it out of the evacuation zone.

Buckwalter, who's 68 and quadriplegic, relies on his powerchair to move around and be independent. He has a customized van, outfitted to load and fit his wheelchair, but on the day he needed to evacuate the van was getting repaired at a shop nearby.

The Eaton Fire that began on Jan. 7, north of Pasadena, destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 structures and burned through 14,000 acres. Combined with the Palisades Fire that broke out simultaneously, 28 lives were lost, including several who had disabilities or mobility issues.

"It was gutting to read that," Buckwalter told ABC News. "I can't imagine what their final moments were like, and to personalize that -- what would it have been like if, say, my powerchair failed? Or if I wasn't able to evacuate at all?"

More likely to be left behind

According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the death rate among people with disabilities during disasters tends to be two to four times higher than among the general population.

People with disabilities are more likely to be left behind in emergency responses, the group said. For Buckwalter, the Eaton Fire brought to light the vast differences between disabled and non-disabled individuals face during a disaster.

"When anyone is disaster-planning, you focus on things like your support network, what your evacuation plan is, food, clothing or shoes," said TJ Hill, executive director of the Disability Community Resource Center in Los Angeles. "But people with disabilities have additional things to be considered, such as their transportation needs and alternatives, or medication-planning."

Buckwalter's wife and primary caregiver, Deborah Buckwalter, 72, said she had much to consider when packing their "go bag." She needed to make sure her husband had medications and bowel management devices, she said.

Most importantly, with the van in the shop, they had to figure out an alternative method of transportation -- to escape.

Buckwalter's power chair weighs about 400 pounds. he said it's not something his wife or even two strong people can haul into the trunk of a car.

He thought about ordering an Uber Wav -- a wheelchair-accessible vehicle -- he said, but no Ubers were allowed in the evacuation zones. Buckwalter is paralyzed from the chest down; if he left his power chair and used a regular wheelchair, he would lose his independence and mobility. At that time, he didn't even know when he would make it back home.

"I tell people I am a semi-digital human, my chair is a part of me. As for my van, everyone relies on a vehicle in L.A., and I rely on my vehicle," he said. "Independently evacuating is not possible, that is the nature of disability, that you need assistance."

Disabilities affect people in different ways, Hill, the disability advocate, said. People have to consider the individual ways to accommodate people with disabilities during a natural disaster.

"If the person has a communication disability, it's making sure you are connected to all the communication networks in a proper way," said Hill. "In the Camp Fire of 2018, a lot of folks had lost power and did not have access to traditional media. Radios for the deaf and hard of hearing were not as effective as our cellphone networks when they're down."

Many of those who died in the Camp Fire of 2018 were also elderly or disabled.

"Once you're in a disaster, that is the worst time for any population. But for the disabled population, those needs are really amplified," he said. "Which often leads to really tragic outcomes."

Hill said the best thing individuals can do is prepare.

"In a disaster, you shouldn't rely on just emergency personnel to evacuate you. Oftentimes, that's not their first priority, evacuation. Oftentimes it's fire mitigation," he said.

Such was the case of Anthony and Justin Mitchell, who were killed in the Eaton Fire. Both father and son had disabilities and were in wheelchairs, they passed away waiting for an ambulance to transport them to relatives.

Anthony Mitchell's daughter, Hajime White, told ABC News her father called her the morning of the fires, saying he needed to evacuate. He told her he loved her and all of a sudden said, "Baby, I gotta go. The fire is in the yard."

Galen Buckwalter is grateful he managed to escape. He made the one-mile trek alone in his power chair before finding a safe place to order an Uber Wav and being reunited with his wife.

"It was really hard to part as I was putting a load in the car, watching [Galen] disappear into the darkness at the top of our driveway. Not even knowing exactly when we were going to be reunited at that point," said Deborah Buckwalter.

She said she wishes there was a way to make sure that during an emergency all disabled people were accounted for and are asked about what they need during that emergency.

Hill said the Disability Community Resource Center did exactly that: Staffers called about 700 members they service, conducted a wellness check and asked them about their evacuation plans. Hill let them know that even if they were in a warning zone, they should make a plan.

"The longer that folks wait, or if they wait for an evacuation order, it is often too late," he said.

He believes these calls made all the difference.

The Buckwalters had about 20 minutes before a warning turned into an evacuation order and then another 30 minutes to get out of their home. Deborah Buckwalter is grateful she began packing early -- it gave her husband the chance to escape in his power chair.

Even after he made it out of the evacuation zone, it took five hours and three Uber Wavs later to find a place to stay that could accommodate him.

"I think there's been so many advances made since the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] in terms of how much disabled people can be integrated into the community, but the job is not done yet, of making a society where diversity is valued," said Buckwalter.

In 2019, the state of California released an audit saying that the state was not adequately prepared to protect its most vulnerable residents, specifically those with disabilities, from natural disasters such as wildfires.

"This can't be happening," said Deborah. "We just have to do better. We as a community have to do better."

Hill said the best thing advocates can do is help people stay informed and prepared while the Buckwalters hope the narrative around people with disabilities change.

"It's painfully obvious now, but all these big companies are excluding their DEI programs. A lot of that is taken to mean that we are getting rid of affirmative action, but it's also people with disabilities that are getting re-stigmatized," said Buckwalter, who was also saddened by those who passed away. "These are people. These are individuals with dreams that provide support for their friends, and they're gone -- they're gone in a very traumatic way."