CNN
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As the winds die down and firefighters take control of the deadly infernos that have burned more than 60 square miles, Los Angeles faces an unimaginable task before anyone can rebuild: cleaning up the toxic, smoldering remains.
More than 12,000 structures were destroyed, many of them homes and businesses reduced to the footprints of ash foundations. The cars are charred to the chassis, their tires melted into puddles of black rubber. The batteries that power electric vehicles — popular choices in Los Angeles — threaten to reignite like unexploded ordnance.
The remaining fires are bringing an agonizing return for residents, and it will take months to clean up the toxic ash, hazardous waste and charred debris, state and federal officials told CNN. Only then can home and business owners rebuild.
Work to identify and clean up hazardous waste could begin as early as next week, an Environmental Protection Agency official told CNN. The EPA will be joined by California state agency CalRecycle in overseeing much of the cleanup work, officials said.
Charred hazardous waste and large debris must be cleaned up by professional crews, and the underlying soil must be treated to remove toxic chemicals burned there.
“It’s not the same as, ‘I’m going to go in with a shovel and clean up the mud from the flood,’” said Patricia McIlreavy, president and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, a nonprofit. “The level of devastation is beyond. »
The Eaton and Palisades fires are the first and second most destructive in Southern California history. “The Palisades fire alone is the size of Manhattan; just imagine the debris,” McIlreavy said.
“This is going to be a huge project.”
In pictures: Deadly wildfires in Los Angeles County
Cleanup of the hazardous waste alone could take three to six months, an EPA official told CNN. And this is just the first step before homeowners and government officials can return to their properties to begin cleaning up non-hazardous debris, which could take several more months.
About 500 EPA workers will work with the state to begin eliminating hazards such as compressed gas cylinders, paint solvents, pesticides, fertilizers and munitions, FEMA’s regional administrator announced Wednesday , Robert Fenton, Jr.
The EPA will work with law enforcement to safely dispose of large lithium-ion batteries destroyed in the fire, such as those in electric vehicles and home power banks that store energy from solar panels. Once damaged, these large batteries pose a major safety risk.
“This is going to be one of the biggest cleanups when it comes to lithium-ion batteries,” the EPA official said. They should be treated as unexploded ordnance due to their volatility. Batteries damaged by fire or salt water can explode and take a long time to turn off due to the persistent chain reaction inside the battery – which also causes them to reignite occasionally.
Officials are working “rapidly” to complete the first phase of removing hazardous debris so families can return to their properties as soon as possible, the secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency said. Yana Garcia – who oversees the state equivalent of the federal EPA.
“We are aware of the desire of people to come and return their properties,” Garcia told CNN.
Once the EPA completes its work, debris removal crews equipped with heavy equipment like excavators, skid steers and haul trucks will demolish and haul away the remaining rubble.
“All ash and structural debris will be removed from the property down to the foundation,” said Cory Koger, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water program manager who helped oversee debris removal after the Maui wildfires in 2023.
Standing walls and burned trees that are in danger of falling are also being removed, Koger said in an email interview.
Debris removal typically takes between one and four days per plot, depending on its size. Metal and concrete are usually rinsed and recycled. Other debris that can’t be recycled is landfilled, Koger said.
Homeowners are responsible for paying for debris removal. Debris removal is usually covered by fire insurance, but insurance companies back out of California and other states exceptionally prone to wildfires or hurricanes.
“It depends on your situation and whether you can remove it,” said McIlreavy, CEO of the disaster nonprofit. Some homeowners “may have a harder time recovering from the fire than others.”
If the cost of damage exceeds an insurance policy, FEMA can step in to cover the gap. FEMA also helps cover debris removal when it poses an immediate threat to public health and safety, a FEMA spokesperson said.
But large, unstable debris is not the only thing that poses a risk to human health. Burning homes and cars release toxins, plastics and heavy metals like lead into the air, soil and water. The tiny size of these toxins means they can travel through a person’s blood and lungs, posing serious health risks, especially for people who already have cardiovascular disease.
Wearing gloves, masks, long sleeves and pants to prevent ashes from getting on skin or hair is essential; but even with these protections, pregnant people, children, the elderly, or those with pre-existing conditions should not come into contact with toxic ashes due to the increased risk.
A recent fire with similar destruction in an urban area—homes, businesses, cars destroyed, and buildings reduced to ashes—is the Maui Fire that ravaged Lahaina in August 2023. U.S. Army crews doused the contaminated ashes with water and sealed them tightly. in plastic before disposing of it in a landfill so that it cannot escape into the air and water. This was a clear sign of the toxicity of the remains of violent fires.
“It’s very dangerous,” McIlreavy said.
