Topline:
Previous scientific research shows that the detritus left behind after a fire can be laden with toxic compounds and gases, from heavy metals to burned plastics to asbestos.
Why it matters: Exposure to the ash and even air can cause short-term health impacts, from the runny eyes Ronaghi experienced to respiratory issues and mor
Keep reading ... for tips on how to protect yourself while cleaning up after the fires.
Reza Ronaghi lost his home in the Los Angeles wildfires last week.
"Not a single house survived in our two-block area," he said.
Ronaghi is a pulmonologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. So he is well-acquainted with the health risks associated with breathing in wildfire smoke. But even he, a medical professional, was shocked to see how many potential health risks lurked in the detritus, ash, and smoke left behind after the fires.
"This is not just a regular fire," he said. The ash contains material from "thousands of houses and all the material the house was made of, the inside, the appliances, the roof, the list goes on."
But what alarmed him more was how little health and safety guidance officials offered to residents returning to the neighborhood to see what was left of their homes.
He and several neighbors were allowed back into their Pacific Palisades neighborhood a few days after the burn; the ground was still smoking. He wore an N95 mask, but quickly realized he should have more thoroughly protected himself — with gloves, goggles, a respirator mask like those used when working with chemicals, and long clothes that he could remove and bag immediately after leaving the area.
After just 20 or 30 minutes, he said, his eyes were watering and his nose was irritated. Later on, he realized his skin was irritated where it had accidentally been exposed.
Previous scientific research shows that the detritus left behind after a fire can be laden with toxic compounds and gases, from heavy metals to burned plastics to asbestos. Exposure to the ash and even air can cause short-term health impacts, from the runny eyes Ronaghi experienced to respiratory issues and more.
But it's not just the immediate health issues that concern Ronaghi. The exposure people experience now, he worries, could lead to health effects down the road.
Exposure to toxic materials left behind after houses burn can be "actually much more dangerous than what smoke may do to your lungs alone," he said.
So as people return to their homes, he wants them to take care — because "right now, we're talking about long-term consequences."
It matters what materials have burned
Wildfire smoke and ash can be dangerous to people's health even when a fire burns primarily trees and plants. But fires that burn through man-made materials are often filled with a more toxic mix. After California's 2018 Camp Fire, researchers found abnormally high concentrations of lead downwind of the burn, which they suspect came from the houses that went up in smoke. Researchers in Los Angeles have found preliminary suggestions that the ash there has high concentrations of metals, as well. Exposure to lead can lead to short-term problems like headaches or dizziness. High exposures have been associated with issues from cognitive trouble to reproductive and cardiovascular problems.
It's not just metals. Appliances, coolant fluid, polyester curtains, cleaning products — all the manmade parts of a house can produce a rich suite of health-harming compounds and gases, like benzene and formaldehyde, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs.
But research on the long-term effects of wildfire smoke has only recently begun.
Surveys after the Lahaina wildfires in 2023 found that residents exposed to smoke and ash experienced increases in heart, kidney, and mental health issues. An EPA-led study exposed mice to smoke from army burn pits, which include many materials that might be found in burning homes and cars; the mice exposed to the smoke showed signs of inflammation and lung injury.
In the most damaged and contaminated areas, officials will usually send in debris-removal teams to clear away the most dangerous waste and ash. But Ronaghi stressed that anyone visiting the area before that process is complete should take precautions.
He recommends anyone visiting burn sites use N95 masks or respirators, if possible, along with goggles to protect their eyes (ski or swim goggles would work in a pinch, he says); gloves; and long clothes that they can remove before returning to wherever they're staying. Bag those clothes during transport, and wash them immediately upon arriving home, other experts suggest, to avoid bringing hazards into your living space.
Even those whose homes are still standing, including those far from the front lines of the fire, may be contending with ash and smoke. Research conducted after the 2021 Marshall Fire in Boulder, Colo., found that "smoke managed to penetrate indoors and through cracks underneath doors and windows," in homes downwind of the fire, said Joost de Gouw, a University of Colorado, Boulder atmospheric chemist and author of one of the studies. Residents reported health disturbances, from headaches to respiratory problems, for weeks afterward.
Hazardous gases associated with the wildfire smoke, such as benzene and naphthalene, could be detected in homes downwind of the Marshall Fire long after the burns were put out. Those gases, another study suggested, could have been absorbed by textiles, mattresses, and maybe even the wood framing and drywall in homes.
Those gases take time to dissipate, de Gouw said, during which period residents may still be exposed.
After the fire, "all of these gases that were absorbed into building materials were slowly being rereleased through indoor air, where you were smelling them," he said. "That process took about five weeks before everything ventilated out again."
How to clean up
Even for those farther from the burned neighborhoods, the cleanup could be dangerous — and could stretch over weeks.
Because the leftover ash and smoke can contain dangerous components, experts who spoke with NPR recommend protecting yourself thoroughly whenever you clean your home if it was affected by wildfire smoke.
"People who are going back to these homes should wear N95 masks to protect themselves," said Colleen Reid, a health geographer at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who worked on one of the Marshall Fire smoke studies. "We found that when people cleaned, it resuspended that ash," lifting it back into the air where people might inhale it.
Reid also suggests wearing gloves and long-sleeved clothes and pants while cleaning.
She said scientists are still working on coming up with rigorously tested recommendations for best cleaning practices after wildfires. But a 2023 study shows that cleaning a home's hard surfaces by dusting, wiping down with damp cloths, and mopping can effectively lower the concentrations of smoke-associated gases.
Reid suggests "using a HEPA-filter vacuum, and really cleaning all the surfaces — like wiping them down to try to remove those sources of the chemicals that are off-gassing."
More porous surfaces, like couches and other textiles, can persist as an ongoing source of exposure; Reid suggests replacing them, if possible.
de Gouw and other researchers found that constantly running air filters with activated carbon lowered the gas concentrations in those first weeks after the fire. But concentrations went back up when the air filters were stopped — so "it's important to keep them running for those few weeks," he said.
Research from Portland State University found that PAH levels can be lowered post-fire by simple cleaning and washing any textiles that can be washed. Long-term exposure to PAH's has been linked to increased risk of cancer.
The message, said de Gouw, is to clean everything one can carefully and thoroughly, because the smoke can affect nearly every part of a home — even in houses far from the fire line. Any efforts to lower the dose of potentially dangerous smoke and ash byproducts can help protect people, he said.
Ronaghi is still dealing with the fallout of the fires. For now, his family is dealing with the loss of their home and figuring out how, and where, to rebuild their life.
But as he processes, he wants to make sure others understand the ongoing risks.
"Most of the time we hear about fires and we say, okay, you know, we'll be okay. We're kind of removed from it," he said.
But for people across Los Angeles, it's all too possible to be exposed to health-damaging toxins right now: "And you won't know for a very, very, very long time," he said. "That's why it's super important" to protect yourself.
Copyright 2025 NPR
Topline:
Copper wire theft damaged business phone lines at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s East L.A. Station in February — two months later, service is still down.
Why it matters: Residents have faced longer wait times to get in touch with the department for non-emergencies. Now, all dispatchers are working from an off-site communication trailer connected via satellite, according to officials.
The backstory: Copper wire theft has plagued the Eastside in recent years, leaving communities in the dark and disabling public facilities. Repairing damaged fiber lines can be difficult and time consuming for service providers.
Read on... for more on the downed phone lines.
This story first appeared on The LA Local.
Copper wire theft damaged business phone lines at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s East L.A. Station in February — two months later, service is still down.
Residents have faced longer wait times to get in touch with the department for non-emergencies. Now, all dispatchers are working from an off-site communication trailer connected via satellite, according to officials.
“We elevated this to the highest level we possibly could,” said Operations Captain Shawnee N. Hinchman at a Maravilla Community Advisory Committee (MCAC) meeting last week. “Our dispatchers aren’t even at the station right now because we had to reroute the lines to a different location, so we’re even down personnel.”
At the meeting, East L.A. resident Guadalupe Arellano said she’s struggled to contact the station to report parking enforcement issues.
“The last few times that I tried to make calls to…the Sheriff’s office, they had answering machines or are no longer answering calls,” she said.
An officer told her that the best line of action is to contact the Sheriff’s Department directly, but noted delays are expected.
According to Sgt. Michael Mileski, several thousand dollars’ worth of copper wiring was stolen from an electrical vault during the early morning hours on Feb. 13. Fiber optic cables were damaged in the process, which affected a significant portion of the Eastern Avenue corridor in Boyle Heights and East L.A., disrupting phone lines for 100,000 residents for 5 days, Mileski said.
Mileski was unsure why service had not been restored at the station and did not provide a timeline for repairs.
“We were told back in February that this would be ongoing. They said it would take about a month and a half to fix the problem,” Mileski said.
Copper wire theft has plagued the Eastside in recent years, leaving communities in the dark and disabling public facilities. Repairing damaged fiber lines can be difficult and time consuming for service providers.
The office of Assemblymember Jessica Caloza has also stepped in to try to expedite the resolution. Hector Rodriguez, a field representative for Caloza’s office, told residents at the meeting that they are working with AT&T to restore service, but it has taken longer than expected.
“It’s extremely frustrating even for us as well but our office takes this extremely seriously, just like the community,” Rodriguez said. A spokesperson for AT&T wasn’t immediately available to answer questions from Boyle Heights Beat.
As of Thursday, the business phone lines remain down and calls cannot be transferred within the East L.A. Sheriff’s Station.
Lt. William Morris told Boyle Heights Beat that four to seven dispatchers are currently working at a time from an off-site communications trailer. If a caller is unable to get through, Morris recommends trying again and said a dispatcher will eventually pick up. He added that 911 calls will go through no matter what.
LA Documenter Alex Medina contributed reporting for this story. LA Documenters trains and pays LA residents to take notes at local government meetings around Los Angeles. You can find meeting notes and audio at losangeles.documenters.org
Topline:
Several candidates running for California governor will take part in a public forum tomorrow in Koreatown, offering residents a chance to hear directly from them ahead of the primary election on June 2.
Who is expected: Confirmed candidates include Democrats Xavier Becerra, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee. Candidates were invited based on fundraising totals reported earlier this year to the California Secretary of State.
Who was invited but hasn't RSVPed: Democrats Matt Mahan and Katie Porter, along with Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, were also invited but have not confirmed their attendance.
Keep reading... for details on how to attend or listen.
Several candidates running for California governor will take part in a public forum Saturday in Koreatown, offering residents a chance to hear directly from them ahead of the primary election on June 2.
Confirmed candidates include Democrats Xavier Becerra, Tom Steyer, Tony Thurmond, Antonio Villaraigosa and Betty Yee. Candidates were invited based on fundraising totals reported earlier this year to the California Secretary of State.
Democrats Matt Mahan and Katie Porter, along with Republicans Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, were also invited but have not confirmed their attendance, according to the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE), one of the lead host organizations.
The forum will run from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at World Mission University located at 500 Shatto Place. Doors open at 9 a.m. and space is limited. RSVP is required, though entry is not guaranteed.
The forum will not be livestreamed but organizers say recordings will be released by May 4 with translations in Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Punjabi, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese with the possibility of additional languages.
Parking will be limited. About 80 spaces are available in the building’s first-floor garage, with another 15 to 20 spaces potentially available in a second-floor tenant lot. Free parking is also available in a nearby lot on Westmoreland Avenue, according to the university.
Organizers say the forum is designed to connect candidates directly with AANHPI communities. More than 7.3 million Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders live in California, making up over 15% of the population.
“California’s AANHPI communities are a driving force behind the state’s economy, culture, and democracy,” Korean American Democratic Committee (KADC) President Esther Lim said in a statement.
“As the only gubernatorial forum in Los Angeles County hosted by and for AANHPI communities, this is a historic opportunity for candidates to connect with one of California’s fastest growing and most influential communities. Our coalition represents organizations across the political spectrum united by a common goal: ensuring AANHPI Californians are seen, heard, and prioritized.”
Organizers said Koreatown was an intentional choice for the forum.
“Koreatown, like many AANHPI communities, has historically been overlooked and underestimated, making it especially meaningful to bring gubernatorial candidates directly into this space,” KADC and CAUSE said in a joint statement. “It was important to hold this forum in a location that is both accessible by public transportation and grounded in the communities we serve.”
The forum comes as the race shifts following Democrat Eric Swalwell’s exit. The candidate — who had been invited — suspended his campaign last week after facing allegations of rape and sexual assault, which he has denied.
A new Emerson College Polling survey conducted April 14-15 shows a wide-open race, with Hilton leading at 17% and nearly a quarter of voters still undecided. Bianco and Steyer trail closely behind at 14%.
Among Democrats, the poll found support is now split between Steyer (20%), Becerra (19%) and Porter (15%), with Becerra gaining ground after Swalwell left the race, according to the poll.
The post Koreatown to host candidate forum for California’s next governor appeared first on LA Local.
Topline:
Even after Rep. Eric Swalwell’s swift and sudden exit, the race for governor is still frustratingly murky on the Democratic side, with seven major candidates splitting the vote. As party faithful hope for divine intervention, heavyweights like the speaker emerita and the current governor refuse to weigh in.
More details: Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, the face of the party in California, is not interested in elevating a successor. Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks, who faces criticism for not using his position to cull the field, has relied on party-commissioned polls and vague pleas for candidates to “honestly assess” their campaign’s viability, refusing to openly pressure anyone to drop out. Even former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — known for urging then-Rep. Adam Schiff to run for Senate and former President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid — won’t intervene.
Read on... for how California Democrats are navigating it.
Democrats are searching for a hero to save them in the California governor’s race.
So far, no one in party leadership has come to the rescue.
Despite Rep. Eric Swalwell’s exit from the race this week, the Democratic field remains unwieldy, with seven major candidates still splitting the field less than three weeks before ballots are sent. Each of them refuses to bow out, regardless of their polling numbers, in the hope they can capture some of the voter attention that Swalwell’s demise drew to the race.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, the face of the party in California, is not interested in elevating a successor. Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks, who faces criticism for not using his position to cull the field, has relied on party-commissioned polls and vague pleas for candidates to “honestly assess” their campaign’s viability, refusing to openly pressure anyone to drop out.
Even former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — known for urging then-Rep. Adam Schiff to run for Senate and former President Joe Biden to drop his reelection bid — won’t intervene.
“People have reached out to me saying, ‘Your mom has to do something!’” said Christine Pelosi, daughter of the San Francisco congresswoman and herself a candidate for state Senate.
“I said, ‘You know what? She doesn't, though,’” the younger Pelosi said. “She already did that with Biden and Harris. She's not going to — don't look to her to do that again.”
Gone is the heyday of the San Francisco-based political machine, a network of political talent that dominated state politics for decades and produced titans such as Pelosi and Newsom, both of whom are moving on from California politics.
Now that pipeline has run dry, and this year there is no obvious heir to Newsom for the party to coalesce behind. No current statewide officeholder joined the fray, and both presumptive favorites — former Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla — opted not to run.
That has made top Democrats loath to weigh in on the state’s first truly open Democratic primary in 16 years. In 2018, Newsom, then the lieutenant governor, was widely viewed as the most likely successor to former Gov. Jerry Brown, another product of the San Francisco political machine.
The 2026 race is also only the second time an open field has competed under the top-two primary system, adopted 16 years ago to the chagrin of both parties. That means two Democrats or two Republicans could advance to the general election and lock the other party out.
Newsom reiterated his lack of interest this week when he issued a statement that said in part, “I have full confidence that voters will choose a candidate who reflects the values and direction Californians believe in.”
While grassroots activists have for decades decried the king-making of insider machine politics, the alternative — an abundance of candidates with no clear frontrunner — has proved unappealing too.
The resulting decision paralysis has resurrected calls for a strong leader to step in.
“This has been incredibly frustrating, not to mention scary, with the idea that we could end up with two Republicans,” said RL Miller, a longtime delegate and chair of the party’s environmental caucus. “I really do believe that there has been a failure of leadership at the top.”
Miller theorized that party leaders were overcorrecting after years of backlash following the 2016 presidential election, in which establishment Democrats disregarded the grassroots support for Sen. Bernie Sanders and instead anointed Hillary Clinton.
As more Democratic gubernatorial candidates entered the fray in the last year, Miller said she thought leadership had the “admirable intent” of letting delegates winnow the field themselves.
But anxieties were already spiking before the Democrats’ endorsing convention in February, where none of the nine candidates vying for the gubernatorial nod amassed more than 25% — far short of the 60% needed. Hicks faced repeated questions then about whether he would step in, but insisted it wasn’t his role.
“By the party convention, the alarm bells had been ringing for months,” said Miller, who has consistently voted against Hicks in internal party elections.
After the convention, Hicks released an open letter urging that “every candidate honestly assess the viability of their candidacy and campaign,” and “if you do not have a viable path to make it to the general election” not to file to run. Only one listened, former Assemblymember Ian Calderon, who was polling around 1% or less.
Later, Hicks announced the party would conduct ongoing polls on the race and release them every seven to 10 days through early May, when ballots are sent.
Hicks’ defenders said he was right to abstain from picking favorites. Christine Pelosi said it would be “inappropriate” for the chair to weigh in on the candidates after delegates at the party convention chose not to endorse anyone.
Hicks’ calls for candidates to “consider their viability” was a “somewhat extraordinary and surprising” move, said Paul Mitchell, the architect of the gerrymandered congressional maps that voters approved via Proposition 50 to boost congressional Democrats in the upcoming election.
“It maybe wasn't surprising for people who think that the Democratic Party chair is like a backroom dealer that's going to knock heads or something like that,” Mitchell said. “But that's not the chair’s role in California right now.”
Both Mitchell and Christine Pelosi blamed the top-two system for much of the drama. The slim possibility that two Republicans could emerge from the primary has spurred many of the calls for leadership to weigh in.
Mitchell argued that since President Donald Trump put a thumb on the scale by endorsing former Fox News host Steve Hilton, there’s less risk that both he and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco would end up on the November ticket, alleviating some of the pressure on Democrats.
“If it wasn't a top two, people wouldn't care,” said Christine Pelosi. “You wouldn't have the added agita of ‘there's only two Republicans and there's a bunch of Democrats.’”
Notably, the state GOP failed to endorse a candidate at its recent convention, indicating that Trump’s nod might not hold as much sway as Democrats assume.
Still, if Hicks is trying to convince rank-and-file Democrats he’s doing enough, it’s not working.
Amar Shergill, the former leader of the party’s progressive caucus, suggested that its weak, decentralized leadership was by design so monied interests could exert more control over who gets elected.
“Rusty Hicks is furniture that folks with real power use at their discretion,” Shergill said.
“There's no sort of anger or animosity towards him as a person,” he said. “If it wasn’t Rusty, it would be somebody else. This is just the political situation right now.”
In an interview, Hicks told CalMatters that he is “doing what is required” to ensure a Democrat wins the race. But when pressed repeatedly, Hicks would not elaborate on what that work entails, if he believes what he’s done so far is working or if he should have had a stronger hand in culling the field, as his critics have suggested.
“I'm not interested in opening up the playbook as to what we will or will not do in the coming days and weeks,” he said.
CalMatters’ Yue Stella Yu contributed to this report.
This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.
Topline:
More than 20 locations in South L.A. will get speed cameras under a pilot program that gets rolling this fall.
Why now: The plan was approved by the L.A. City Council last month and will cover a total 125 targeted zones in the city, according to L.A. Department of Transportation documents. LADOT says the cameras are aimed at reducing traffic fatalities while complying with a 2023 state law that requires LA and five other cities to establish automated speed enforcement programs before 2032.
What's next: The cameras could start snapping photos of speedsters as early as July, with a 60-day warning period — where drivers wouldn’t be fined — running into September.
More than 20 locations in South L.A. will get speed cameras under a pilot program that gets rolling this fall.
The plan, which was approved by the L.A. City Council last month, will cover a total 125 targeted zones in the city, according to L.A. Department of Transportation documents. The cameras could start snapping photos of speedsters as early as July, with a 60-day warning period — where drivers wouldn’t be fined — running into September.
LADOT says the cameras are aimed at reducing traffic fatalities while complying with a 2023 state law that requires LA and five other cities to establish automated speed enforcement programs before 2032.
L.A. saw 290 traffic fatalities in 2025, according to LA Police Department data, 6% less than 2024. Several of the city’s deadliest intersections are clustered in South L.A. along Western Avenue, Vermont Avenue and Figueroa Street, according to data analyzed by Crosstown.
Some intersections will have multiple camera clusters installed on the streets around them. The intersection of Gage Avenue and Figueroa Street, for example, will have cameras to the north, south and west.
Cameras will be located on:
Cameras will snap a photo of a speeding vehicle’s rear that includes its license plate as well as its make and model.
The system will document the date, time and vehicle speed, then issue a citation to the vehicle’s registered owner, according to LADOT’s policy plan.
Fines will ratchet higher based on how fast a vehicle is moving, starting with a $50 fine for vehicles going 11 to 15 mph above the limit.
Vehicles moving 16 to 25 mph over the limit will get $100 fines, and vehicles going 26 mph or more over the limit will get $200 fines.
The max fine will be $500 for vehicles that go 100 mph or more above the speed limit.
LADOT said camera images will not include rear windshields or faces, and that state law does not allow the cameras to use facial recognition technology.
Some Angelenos submitted comments to LADOT, worrying the speed camera program will disproportionately affect people of color, according to a March 20 department memo.
LADOT said in the memo that it worked to minimize any inequity, in part, by distributing the cameras evenly across the city’s 15 council districts, with every district getting at least eight cameras, and no district getting more than nine.
The transportation department said it based much of its location selection on speed-related collision data and proximity to places like senior centers and schools.
State law requires that the city continue monitoring the program’s effectiveness and impact on civil rights and liberties, according to LADOT.
The post Speed cameras are coming to South LA — here’s where they’ll be installed appeared first on LA Local.