LA residents are still battling toxic hazards a year after historic wildfires
ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — “DANGER: Lead Work Area” says a sign on the front door of a home in Altadena. “It can harm fertility or the unborn child. It can damage the central nervous system.”
Block after block, there are reminders that pollutants still linger.
House cleaners, hazardous waste workers and homeowners come and go, wearing masks, respirators, gloves and hazmat suits as they mop, sweep and power-wash homes that haven’t been reduced to ashes.
It’s been a year of heartbreak and anxiety since then devastating forest fires Throughout the history of the Los Angeles area, neighborhoods have been burned and tens of thousands of people have been displaced. On January 7, 2025, two wind-driven fires killed at least 31 people and destroyed approximately 17,000 structures, including homes, schools and buildings. businesses and places of worship. reconstruction It will take years.
The disaster brought a new wave of trauma to people who fear what still lurks in their homes.
Indoor air quality after fires has not been adequately studied, and scientists still don’t know the long-term health effects of exposure to major city fires like the one in Los Angeles last year. However, some chemicals released are known to be linked to heart diseases and lung problems. exposure to minerals such as magnetite It has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Ash The area is filled with a toxic soup of burnt cars, electronics, paint, furniture, and all sorts of other personal items. May contain pesticides, asbestos, plastic, lead or other heavy metals.
Many people whose houses are still standing now live here dangers remnants of the fires.
People forced to return to their homes in Altadena
Nina and Billy Malone considered their home of 20 years a safe haven before smoke, ash and soot seeped in and left behind harmful levels of lead even after professional cleaning. Recent tests revealed that the toxin was still found on the wooden floors of the living room and bedroom.
They had to return to their homes after the insurance cut off rental assistance in August.
Since then, Nina has woken up with a sore throat and headache almost every day. Billy had to get an inhaler due to his worsening wheezing and congestion. And Nina said their bedroom smelled “like an ashtray that’s been sitting around for a long time.” He’s most worried about exposure to unregulated contaminants that insurance companies aren’t required to test for.
“I don’t feel comfortable in this area,” said Nina, whose neighbors’ houses burned across the street.
They are not alone.
Data still shows dangerous lead levels in homes
Six in 10 homes damaged by the Eaton Fire’s smoke still contained dangerous levels of cancer-causing asbestos, brain-damaging lead or both, according to a November report by Eaton Fire Residents United, a volunteer group of residents. This is based on self-submitted data from 50 homeowners who clean their homes and 78% hire professional cleaners.
According to the report, 63 percent of 50 homes had lead levels above the Environmental Protection Agency standard. Average lead levels were almost 60 times higher than the EPA rule.
Even after the fires were extinguished, volatile organic compounds from the smoke, some known to cause cancer, lingered inside people’s homes. last work. To reduce these risks, residents returning home should ventilate and filter indoor air by opening windows or running high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) purifiers with charcoal filters.
Zoe Gonzalez Izquierdo told her insurance company she couldn’t provide the necessary payment to clean up her family’s Altadena home after it tested positive for dangerous levels of lead and other toxic compounds.
“They can’t send an uncertified company to wipe everything down so we can come back to a house that’s still contaminated,” said Gonzalez, who has children ages 2 and 4.
Experts believe that the lead that can remain in dust form on floors and windowsills comes from burnt lead paint. The University of Southern California reports that more than 70% of the homes in the Eaton Fire were built before 1979, when lead paint was common.
Pediatrician Dr., executive director of the Medical Association Consortium on Climate and Health and member of the climate group Science Moms. “For pregnant individuals and young children, it is especially important that we do everything we can to eliminate lead exposure,” said Lisa Patel.
The same goes for asbestos because there is no safe level of exposure.
‘We have to live in the scar’
people living in Pacific FencesThe burned one also faces similar challenges.
Residents are at the mercy of insurance companies who decide what and how much coverage they will cover. For many, this is a grueling and constant battle. The state’s insurer of last resort, known as the California Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, has been under scrutiny for years fire damage claims.
Homeowners want government agencies to mandate that insurance companies return a property to its pre-fire condition.
Julie Lawson doesn’t take risks. His family paid nearly $7,000 out of pocket to test the soil at their Altadena home, even though the insurance company had agreed to pay to replace the grass in their front yard. They planned to test for contaminants again after they finished remediating the interior, which is the process of ridding a home of contaminants after a fire. If insurance doesn’t cover it, they will have to pay for it themselves.
Even if their homes become livable again, they will face other losses, including the equity and community they once had.
“We have to live in the scar,” he said. “We are all still really struggling.”
They will live in the construction site for years. “This isn’t over for us.”
Challenges and the mental health toll
Annie Barbour of the nonprofit United Policyholders helps people deal with challenges that include insurance companies resisting paying for contamination testing and industrial hygienists who can’t agree on what to test.
As a survivor of the 2017 crisis herself, she sees the mental health toll it has on people. Tubbs Fever Northern California understands this.
Many were at first delighted to see their homes still standing.
“But they’ve been in a hell of their own ever since,” Barbour said.
Now residents like the Malone family are going through their belongings one by one, fearing they may have absorbed toxins.
Boxes, bags and bins filled with clothes, china and everything in between fill the couple’s car, basement, garage and home.
They meticulously go through their belongings and evaluate what they think can be adequately cleaned. In the process, Nina cleans out cabinets, drawers, floors, and still finds soot and ash. He wears gloves and a respirator, and sometimes just an N-95 mask.
Billy said their insurance wouldn’t pay to have their home retested, so they were considering paying the $10,000 themselves. If the results still showed contamination, insurance companies told them they would only pay to clean up federally regulated toxins like lead and asbestos.
“I don’t know how you fight this,” said Nina, who is considering therapy to deal with her anxiety. “What do you think of the argument for forcing an insurance company to pay for something that will keep you safe?”
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AP staff writer Alex Veiga contributed to this report.
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