The Brief

Pasadena and Altadena renters whose homes were covered in toxic ash during January’s wildfires are now suing local officials for allegedly failing to inspect their units and require landlords to carry out necessary cleaning.

Individual renters, along with two tenant unions, filed lawsuits Wednesday against the city of Pasadena and the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Citing previous LAist reporting, the complaints allege local officials have refused to enforce tenants’ right to a safe, habitable home.

Public health officials have warned residents that ash carried by the Eaton Fire contains levels of lead harmful to human health.

But the renters say that when they asked the city and county to intervene with landlords who refused to arrange for professional cleaning, they were told they needed to hire lawyers and pursue civil cases on their own.

“It felt like, because we weren't homeowners, we weren't really being taken seriously,” said plaintiff Brenda Lyon.

The other plaintiffs include the Pasadena Tenants Union, the recently formed Altadena Tenants Union and three other renters who allege Pasadena and L.A. County officials failed to uphold their legal obligation to enforce habitable housing conditions.

The city of Pasadena declined to comment on the lawsuits. County authorities have not yet responded to LAist’s request for comment.

Local officials told renters to take their issues to court

Lyon said she, her husband and their baby were forced to leave their duplex unit in Pasadena’s Bungalow Heaven neighborhood when the Eaton Fire ignited on Jan. 7.

After the fires died down and the family was able to return, Lyon said they found the home covered in ash and soot. When she asked her landlord about plans for cleaning, she said she was told no remediation work would be provided, and if she didn’t like it, she could move out.

Lyon said she pleaded with Pasadena officials to enforce her family’s right to a habitable home, but the city’s response was to tell her to pursue a civil case against her landlord.

“We were displaced for three months,” Lyon said. “We used our own personal money” to deal with smoke damage, she added.

Pasadena renter Brenda Lyon speaks at a podium in front of a downtown Los Angeles courthouse.

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David Wagner

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LAist

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How Pasadena and L.A. County are responding

In response to LAist’s questions about the lawsuit, Pasadena city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said in an email: “The city has not been served with the lawsuit so can’t comment at this time.”

Earlier this year, Pasadena officials told LAist that disputes over ash can lead to civil cases between landlords and tenants. They told tenants that the city will not get involved because the word “ash” is not specifically mentioned in the city’s building code.

LAist also reached out to the L.A. County Department of Public Health for comment. Officials did not respond in time for this story.

Looking ahead to future fires

Attorney Lena Silver with Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles, who is representing tenants in both lawsuits, said the goal is to obtain a court order requiring local officials to inspect rental housing and enforce habitability standards when it comes to wildfire smoke damage.

“No one here is seeking money — we're seeking enforcement of the law,” Silver said. “Unfortunately, we know that it's likely that there could be future urban fires in Los Angeles and in California. Our lawsuit would help future tenants clarify the law.”

The question of who is responsible for cleaning apartments coated in ash after a wildfire has been a source of much confusion for tenants, landlords and local government agencies.

For example, after a code enforcement director in the city of L.A. said tenants would be responsible for cleaning ash inside their own units, city housing officials later changed their guidance and said landlords are responsible for such work.

It’s standard for renters insurance policies to cover damage to a tenant’s personal property, such as their furniture and clothing. But damage to the actual home — including the walls, windows and HVAC systems — is typically addressed by landlords through their homeowners insurance policies.

However, some landlords have told tenants they fear that filing a smoke damage claim could cause their insurance costs to rise.

Where displaced renters have been staying

Landlord refusals have left some renters unable to return to their homes, forcing them to pay for temporary relocation costs on top of their usual rent.

“We hear from families who are living in their cars and edging closer to homelessness every single day,” said Katie Clark, an organizer with the Altadena Tenants Union. “Throughout all of this, Los Angeles County has been virtually silent.”

Clark said other renters have had no choice but to return to smoke-damaged units and suffer the negative health consequences.

Lyon, the Pasadena renter, was able to get her landlord to agree to finish cleaning after Neighborhood Legal Services sent the landlord a demand letter. But she said this lawsuit is needed because many tenants cannot afford an attorney or find free legal aid.

“[Renters] should feel comfortable saying, per the state of California, my property is not habitable,” Lyon said. “Their city should support them and say, ‘You know what, we're going to send someone to do a check on your property, and then if your landlord doesn't comply, we're going to do a citation.’

"That’s why we're here today — to protect tenants of the future.”

The lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Don’t understand the 70mm IMAX craze for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey?

LAist host Julia Paskin talked to Taylor Umphenour, one of L.A.’s top IMAX projectionists, on FilmWeek to understand why the format is becoming a filmmaker favorite and why audiences are clamoring to theaters to see The Odyssey in the largest format possible.

What is IMAX 70mm?

It might be easier to explain in comparison to other formats.

35mm film is 35 millimeters wide, hence its name. 70mm is two times that width.

“ What IMAX did, was they took 70mm film, which runs vertically through the projector, and they turned it on its side, and then they repeated it over three times,” said Umphenour.

Thus, IMAX 70mm is three-times the size of a conventional 70mm film stock and runs through the projector horizontally.

Take a film like Lawrence of Arabia, which was released in 1962 and shot on 70mm film.

“ When you get to IMAX — three times the size of 70 millimeter film, the height of an IMAX film frame is the width of Lawrence of Arabia,” Umphenour said.

In other words, it’s massive — top to bottom.

What does this mean for image clarity?

Again, it may be easier to explain by comparing to other formats — specifically digital.

Most of us know that digital images are made up of tiny, square pixels. The bigger the image, the more pixels it contains, so the better the resolution.

The same is essentially true for film, but film is crystallized through an emulsion process. Chemicals are blended and washed over the film, which develops the image.

Umphenour said this means the image is deeply embedded in the film itself.

“When you increase the size of the film, you increase that clarity and that sharpness because you're allowing the emulsion to contain all that information, but you're giving it a wider image area to hold it,” he said.

In other words, film formats lead to a more organic image. And the bigger the film, the more clarity.

So why aren’t all theaters showing IMAX 70mm?

Currently, there are only 25 theaters in the U.S. capable of showing The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm — theaters with screens large enough to project it.

“ Widescreen fills your field of vision left to right,” Umphenour said. “But what IMAX does, it takes that even further and it fills your field of vision all the way to the top and all the way to the bottom, in that fully expanded aspect ratio.”

So, while not all theaters house screens large enough to project the IMAX 70mm version of The Odyssey, many theaters across the country and in L.A. are able to show The Odyssey in the next best thing… 70mm.

Umphenour helped the Alex Theater in Glendale retrofit its projector and renovate the technical booth so that it could do just that, opting to keep the historical integrity of the theater.

“ We want to maximize the resolution of the film formats that we're using to project there so that people can have the best experience,” he said. “But it's ultimately a more classical, cinematic, theatrical environment.”

Where to see The Odyssey in SoCal — in its biggest 70 mm format

• Hollywood - TCL Chinese Theatres IMAX
• Irvine - Regal Irvine Spectrum & IMAX
• Los Angeles - Regal LA Live & IMAX
• Ontario - Regal Edwards Ontario Palace Stadium & IMAX
• Universal City - Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood & IMAX

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

East Los Angeles will undergo months of soil testing and excavation after May’s crude oil spill, with the cleanup expected to continue into early 2027, according to county officials.

County agencies gave an update on recovery efforts during an L.A. County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, which they say has shifted from emergency response to long-term remediation. 

Officials said much of the work is contingent on a report due on Aug. 31 by pipeline owner Plains All American that will detail the results of soil testing and other data points to understand the spill’s impact on the surrounding community and the L.A. River.

“There is still some oil contamination at Cesar Chavez and Eastern Avenue,” said Mario Tresierras, chief of the L.A. County Fire Department’s Health Hazardous Materials Division, one of the lead agencies overseeing the cleanup effort. 

What lies ahead is months of soil sampling, air quality monitoring and, eventually, excavation and removal of the contaminated soil, Tresierras said.

According to L.A. County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella, the scope of the excavation cannot be determined until after the county reviews Plains’ Aug. 31 report, but he expects the work to be completed by January 2027. 

“January of ‘27 would be a conservative completion date … I’d expect it to be done before then,” Pestrella said. “This is going to be a fairly involved cleanup and construction project.” 

How the spill happened 

Crews clean the scene along Cesar E. Chavez and Eastern avenues, where gallons of crude oil spilled onto the street.

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Andrew Lopez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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An estimated 25,000 gallons of crude oil spilled on May 22 after crews conducting directional drilling for a fiber-optic line struck the 16-inch petroleum pipeline. Initial reports placed the spill at about 2,400 gallons before the pipeline operator revised the volume.

Much of the oil seeped into nearby streets and soil, and a “significant” amount also made its way into the storm drain system and the L.A. River, Pestrella said.

State and federal agencies completed cleanup of the river and storm drains on June 23, according to L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

Public Health says no ongoing health impacts detected 

Barbara Ferrer, director of the L.A. County Department of Public Health, said there are no ongoing health impacts related to the spill and the noxious odors that caused headaches and nausea for some residents have subsided.

Ferrer said the department has not detected elevated levels of benzene, a known carcinogen and respiratory irritant, despite community concerns. Though odors may return during excavation work, the department does not anticipate dangerous benzene levels during remediation, Ferrer said.

Solis proposes community meetings 

At the meeting, Solis asked county departments, including Public Works, the L.A. County Fire Department and the Department of Public Health, to hold a community meeting “to ensure that residents are fully aware and updated on the status and recovery while we’re preparing, and then after the report.”

The request comes after months of demands from community groups calling on Solis to host a community town hall and provide greater access to environmental testing results, public health guidance and cleanup updates. Those calls for transparency were reignited following the Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights, with residents calling it another example of the environmental injustice faced by Eastside residents.

As of Wednesday, Solis’ office had not yet determined any dates for the meetings but said they expect the departments to host them as soon as possible.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

A local outbreak of flea-borne typhus is spreading in the Pico Union neighborhood, according to health officials. Five cases have emerged in the city of Los Angeles with all five patients being hospitalized and recovering. 

The outbreak is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health who are hoping to minimize the spread of the infection.

Infections occur when feces from infected fleas are rubbed into cuts or scrapes on the skin or rubbed into the eyes. 

Symptoms include fever, body aches, headaches, nausea and rashes. They can appear within one to two weeks after becoming infected. There is no vaccine for flea-borne typhus but it can be effectively treated with antibiotics when diagnosed early.

According to the DPH the best way to prevent illness is to reduce exposure to fleas and animals that may carry them. This includes stray animals, rodents, and other wildlife such as opossums. 

“Community members can help protect themselves and their neighbors by keeping pets on flea control year-round, avoiding stray animals, and making sure wildlife cannot live in or around their homes,” Los Angeles County Health Officer Muntu Davis said in a statement.

Flea-borne typhus has increased in Los Angeles since 2010, with an all time high of 220 cases in 2025. The highest ever number reported in L.A. County.

The DPH advises residents to protect themselves and their pets by routinely using flea control products, keeping pets indoors as much as possible, and using EPA-registered insect repellent labeled for protection against fleas when outside.

They advise keeping pet food indoors to not attract wild or stray animals, as well as not feeding or touching any free-roaming animals.

Keeping yards free of debris and free of overgrown plants or bushes can also help wild animals avoid the area. It is recommended to keep trash in tightly closed containers, and to close off crawl spaces and openings where animals can enter, hide, or find food.

Infected animals do not typically show signs of illness and flea-borne typhus does not spread from person to person. Animal owners can be infected by touching their infected pets or if infected fleas are on the animal.

In 2025, nearly 90% of people diagnosed with flea-borne typhus required hospitalization, according to the DPH. All age groups are susceptible to catching typhus with documented cases in people ranging in residents from 1 – 85 years old, according to officials.

The county advises residents to get checked sooner rather than later, and to continuously be on the lookout for wild animals. The city will look to deal with an increase in cases since 2024.  

Residents can learn more about flea-borne typhus and prevention: ph.lacounty.gov/Typhus