The Brief

Some seasonal employees at Yosemite National Park worked for as long as six weeks without pay this spring and summer as park supervisors scrambled to manage hiring amid federal budget cuts, workers told NPR. The employees said they are now receiving hourly wages but have not been paid for the work they were asked to do as volunteers while they waited to be put on the federal payroll.  

Some of the workers said they feel exploited.

"It's definitely taking advantage of people who love their jobs and don't want the park to suffer," said one of the employees, who said they volunteered for three weeks before being hired.

NPR spoke with four seasonal and two full-time workers employed by the National Park Service who described the situation. NPR has agreed not to publish the names of the employees because they are not permitted to speak publicly and feared retribution.

Yosemite depends on seasonal workers to perform a variety of jobs from May through October, when the park receives most of the more than 4
million visitors who typically enter the grounds. The Northern California national park is one of the most visited in America.

At Yosemite, seasonal workers do "anything from campgrounds operations, to wilderness permitting for backpackers, to the seasonal interpretive rangers, seasonal maintenance staff," said Jesse Chakrin, the executive director of the Fund for People in Parks, a nonprofit that advocates for national parks. The National Park Service hires thousands of seasonal workers a year across America. More than 100 are typically hired annually at Yosemite early in the busy season, Chakrin said.

But 2025 was no typical year. On Feb. 14, 10 full-time federal employees at Yosemite were fired when the federal government terminated about 1,000 newly hired employees throughout the National Park Service. In the weeks that followed, additional experienced workers left the park service voluntarily. Since January, the amount of permanent staff across the service has declined by 24%, according to data analyzed in July by the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit that defends parks.

Then, after staff members were fired in February, some were hired back. That meant the park service's already straining Human Resources division had to take on additional work to bring those people into the workforce again, federal workers told NPR. Around late spring, when more visitors started entering the park and seasonal workers began arriving at Yosemite to start their jobs, Human Resources wasn't able to onboard all the seasonal staff, Yosemite employees said.

"We had the firing of probationary employees in February and then the rehiring, and this was a huge, huge burden on Human Resources to try to get people in and out," said Emily Thompson, the executive director of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, a nonprofit that supports workers at parks. "And seasonal hiring was delayed."

But Yosemite still needed seasonal workers. An April order from the Department of the Interior, the agency that oversees the National Park Service, said all parks should stay open as usual in 2025, with changes to operating hours requiring special approval.

Seasonal workers needed the jobs too. Many count on their employment at the park to provide them with housing. Because some parts of Yosemite are dozens of miles from the nearest city, accommodations at the park are typically offered to people who work there, for a fee.

"They're dependent upon their job to have a home," said Chakrin.

On May 18, visitors took photos at a viewing point above Vernal Fall, a waterfall at Yosemite National Park.

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In other parks, seasonal employees weren't hired at all. As of July, only about 4,500 of the people expected to fill 8,000 seasonal positions across the Park Service were working in seasonal roles, according to the data from the National Parks Conservation Association. But in late April, supervisors at Yosemite started offering some of the prospective seasonal workers a different option. If they volunteered for at least 32 hours a week at the park, they could stay in Yosemite housing for free until the federal government was able to onboard and start paying them, emails reviewed by NPR reveal.

"My supervisors were emailing people week after week saying, 'Hey, the update is there's no updates and we understand you guys need housing and you're relying on this and we're relying on you. And we don't know what's going on, but one option is to volunteer,'" said one Yosemite worker.

NPR requested an interview with a representative at Yosemite and sent questions regarding how and when seasonal workers were hired this year. The park declined to answer the questions or speak with NPR.

"We are not conducting interviews about staffing levels," said the park's public affairs officer, Scott Gediman.

Gediman recommended that NPR email the National Park Service instead. No one at the service responded to NPR's questions or request for an interview.

But workers at Yosemite told NPR they estimate that more than 50 seasonal workers volunteered for the park service in Yosemite before they were paid later in the summer. Of the four people NPR spoke with who were asked to work for no pay until they could be onboarded, one declined and did not work at Yosemite this season. The other three agreed to volunteer and wait. The workers said they signed volunteer service agreements with the federal government, some of which NPR reviewed.

The three who volunteered said they were assigned a role in a different division than the one they had originally committed to work for. The park service prohibits seasonal employees from volunteering for positions "similar to their paid work" outside of the season. That sort of policy is to prevent the federal government from exploiting workers, the park service's reference manual indicates, and to ensure the park complies with federal labor laws.

"The NPS does not allow an NPS employee to serve as a volunteer in a manner that takes advantage of an employee's willingness to perform their paid work without pay," the manual states.

The federal government also assures people that they can expect competitive pay if they choose to work in public service. But seasonal workers said that's not what they received when they worked for free for weeks. Some believe the federal government did take advantage of them.

"We're here because we need housing," one said. "And there was this urgency to have a place to go, so we did it."

The sun rises over tall granite cliffs that rise from Yosemite Valley.

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It was 'offensive' to work without pay, one worker said

For weeks, before they started being paid by the park in June, the seasonal workers spent hundreds of volunteer hours doing tasks like educating visitors and maintaining trails, they told NPR.

While the employees said they were grateful to have a place to live and understood that their supervisors at Yosemite may not have had control over hiring delays at the federal level, they thought it was unfair not to be paid for their labor.

"The idea of volunteering for the job that we already don't get paid enough to do was offensive," said one of the workers.

A few weeks into the busy season, some prospective seasonal workers were hired and paid by the Great Basin Institute, a nonprofit that promotes conservation and has partnered with national parks on projects before.

"They reached out and said, 'Hey, we've got needs,'" said Peter Woodruff, the nonprofit's chief executive, referring to staff at the Park Service. "So they turned to us for that support during a time of uncertainty."

The institute paid fewer than 30 seasonal workers at Yosemite for a few weeks, said Woodruff. But not all seasonal workers were offered the opportunity. Of the three people NPR spoke with who volunteered, only one received payment from the Great Basin Institute in between volunteering and their employment with the federal government.

Another worker labored without pay for six weeks, from early May until the end of June, before they were onboarded, the employee told NPR. During that time, they stayed in a shared room owned by the federal government that was valued at under $500 a month, their housing agreement reviewed by NPR shows.

The park ultimately onboarded the three workers at different times, from early to late June. After they started being paid by the park, from that point forward, the workers said they earned between $19 and $23 an hour. But none were paid back for the weeks they volunteered, they said, and none were promised back pay.

By asking volunteers to work in different jobs than the ones they were later paid to do, the park service may not have violated federal labor laws, said Kevin Owen, an employment lawyer who represents federal workers. Still, Owen said that the requests to volunteer could harm the park. Since experienced workers might be less likely to agree to work without pay, fewer of them may have accepted the proposal, he said.

"It will lead to either stories of long lines at national parks or stories of missing campers who can't be found when they otherwise should have been," Owen said.

Chakrin, the director of the parks nonprofit, said that parks are currently under strain and struggling with staffing across the West. But he has never heard of seasonal workers being asked to work without pay for weeks because a park couldn't onboard them on time.

"The unprecedented part that I have never seen is, in mass, having seasonals have onboarding dates that are delayed indefinitely and up to three pay periods," he said. "It's just a whole lot of a season when your season is six months long."

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A year after former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do reported to federal prison to serve time for bribery, evidence continues to surface of widespread corruption and mismanagement of taxpayer dollars during his time in office.

A county report released Wednesday found that millions of dollars in COVID-era contracts and grants were directed by Do and another top county official with no competitive bidding and little to no accounting of how the money was spent. Overall, the report paints a picture of a local government facing an unprecedented public health crisis, flush with federal relief dollars, but with minimal guardrails to ensure those dollars were properly spent.

For example, Do awarded a $500,000 small business grant in May 2021 to Bridgecreek Realty Investment Corp. to expand outdoor dining in Little Saigon during the pandemic. But the audit noted that the contract never required Bridgecreek to provide supporting documentation for how the money was spent — such as invoices or receipts. In the end, there is no documentation for how more than half of the taxpayer funds were used.

LAist left a voicemail with Frank Jao, owner of Bridgecreek, requesting comment and will update this story if we receive a response.

The audit also details the numerous times that top county officials were alerted to, but didn’t act on, potential irregularities regarding millions in county funds awarded to a nonprofit connected to Do’s adult daughter, Rhiannon Do. The audit details one occasion in which Clayton Chau, the former county health care director, reprimanded a subordinate for raising concerns and stated “that Supervisor Do was a lawyer and he would know if there was a conflict.”

Chau did not return a text and message from LAist left on his voicemail. We will update this story if we receive a response.

Frank Kim, the former Orange County chief executive, was also interviewed by the auditors. The audit said he was also aware of the alleged conflict of interest, but failed to consult with the county’s top lawyer at the time. Instead, according to the audit, he relied on the word of Do’s then-chief of staff, Chris Wangsaporn, who assured Kim there was no conflict.

LAist left a voicemail on Wangsaporn’s cellphone seeking comment and will update this story if and when we receive a response.

“It’s not an excuse, but that was a strange time,” Kim, the former county CEO, told LAist on Wednesday. Referring to the pandemic and the audit’s findings, Kim added: “None of the processes were really set up to deal with emergencies.”

Kim told LAist he had trusted the supervisors and top county staffers.

“I never thought there would be fraud," he said. “These were people I had worked with for a long time. I never thought they would do something like that.”

Several county supervisors were quick to react to the audit findings, calling for even deeper investigation into what Supervisor Donald Wagner called “potential additional abuses of taxpayers’ dollars.”

Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who was elected to replace Do, said Do and Chau had “scammed taxpayers in the most difficult time of their lives.” She also said the audit showed the county had “routinely bypassed its own rules” for contracting with outside entities.

Supervisor Katrina Foley said the report exposed “deficiencies in oversight and accountability that the board continues to address,” adding that the county must complete the next two scheduled phases of the forensic audit to “uncover remaining problems, strengthen our controls, and protect taxpayers from corruption and abuse.”

The backstory

The new report is the result of the second phase of a forensic audit of major pandemic-era contracts ordered by the O.C. Board of Supervisors in the wake of the Do scandal. The outside firm Weaver is conducting the audit.

Do pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in 2024 following a more than year-long investigation by LAist that found he directed some $13 million in taxpayer funds to an organization affiliated with his daughter, Rhiannon, who was a student at the time. Most of that money was slated to provide meals and services for needy residents of Do’s district during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, at least $550,000 of the funds was rerouted back to Do and his two daughters in the form of bribes, according to federal officials, while just 15% was used to feed residents.

Do will complete his first year in prison on Saturday. He’s scheduled for release in June 2029, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

How to watchdog your local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention. Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read tips on how to get involved.
• The Orange County Board of Supervisors meets on alternating Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. at 400 W. Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana. You can check out the O.C. Board of Supervisors full calendar here.
• Learn how to submit a public comment to the O.C. Board of Supervisors.

A Los Angeles County grand jury has indicted Nick Reiner on murder charges in the killings of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, and adds the allegation that he was lying in wait before attacking them.

The grand jury, which had been meeting in secret, returned the indictment on July 20, and it was unsealed Wednesday, when 32-year-old Nick Reiner entered a not guilty plea.

Rob Reiner, a director, actor and Hollywood luminary, and his wife, a photographer and producer, were stabbed to death in their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Dec. 14. Nick Reiner was arrested within hours and charged two days later.

Why the indictment matters

The grand jury indictment is a major step toward trial and allows prosecutors to skip California’s preliminary hearing process, where evidence is publicly aired.

Lying in wait means a suspect waited for or hid from victims in order to ambush them, and as an allegation it’s meant to show premeditation. A finding that he was lying in wait along with a murder conviction would make Reiner eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors said they haven’t decided whether to seek it.

“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “We hope that by having a grand jury return an indictment in this case it will bring us one step closer to a trial and achieving justice.”

What does the indictment say?

Prosecutors have said nothing about possible motives, and leaks in the case have been virtually nonexistent on both sides.

The Los Angeles County chief medical examiner told The Associated Press he would like to make their autopsy reports public, but a court order has prevented him from doing so.

The unsealed indictment reveals few new details in a case that has been shrouded in secrecy. It does not explain how or why Reiner was lying in wait. Without elaborating, prosecutors have said since December that the parents were stabbed. The indictment includes a special allegation of use of a deadly weapon — a knife — that could also contribute to a stiffer sentence.

What about the trust funds?

The indictment comes as Reiner is seeking unpaid money from a trust his parents established for him, saying he needs it to help in his defense.

Reiner said in a court petition that the trustees who oversee the funds have denied them to him without legal justification. The money was to have gone to Nick Reiner even if his parents were alive, legal filings say. The petition says the trust has at least $1.5 million in assets, but trustees would not share the exact amount.

“Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths. But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue,” the petition says.

He is seeking to hire back high-profile criminal defense attorney Alan Jackson, who initially represented him before Reiner’s siblings would no longer agree to fund his defense and a public defender took over.

A hearing on the petition is set for next week.

The LA County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Reiner, declined to comment on the indictment.

Why is this process shrouded in secrecy?

California prosecutors can charge a defendant and take the case through a preliminary hearing — a sort of trial in miniature where evidence is publicly aired and a judge decides whether it should be sent to trial — as recently happened with singer D4vd.

Or they can use a grand jury to go through the process in secret. They can also publicly file charges and later seek a secret grand jury indictment, essentially creating a new version of the case, as happened here and in the Los Angeles prosecution of Harvey Weinstein.

Remembering Rob Reiner

Rob Reiner began as an actor, starring in the TV sitcom, “All in the Family,” as Michael “Meathead” Stivic, the liberal son-in-law to a much more conservative and bigoted Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor. Reiner won two Emmy Awards for the role, and last month got a posthumous Emmy nomination for his work as a guest star on “The Bear.”

He became a prolific director whose work included some of the most memorable and endlessly watchable movies of the 1980s and ’90s. His credits included “This is Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me,” “A Few Good Men,” and “When Harry Met Sally…” during the production of which he met photographer Michele Singer. They wed soon after and were married for 36 years.

Nick Reiner was the second of the three children they had together. He and his father co-wrote the script for the 2015 film “Being Charlie,” which was partly based on the son’s teenage struggles with addiction and homelessness.

His older brother Jake Reiner wrote in April that the experience of losing his parents and having his brother at the center of it was “a living nightmare” that is “too devastating to comprehend.”

The City of L.A. is still on the hook for a potentially infinite amount of money if the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics are a financial failure.

But in the latest attempt to moderate that risk, the Los Angeles City Council voted 10-4 Wednesday to approve an overdue agreement with the private Olympic organizing committee LA28.

What to know about the agreement 

Matt Szabo, the City Administrative Officer who negotiated the agreement with LA28, spoke at Wednesday's council meeting.

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The deal lays out how LA28 will repay the city for services rendered during the Games, like traffic control. It establishes that the city will seek reimbursement for the cost of policing venues from the federal government, which is overseeing Olympics security.

The council also approved an amendment to a 2021 agreement between the city and LA28 that allows the city to tap an LA28 contingency fund to recoup security costs if the federal government doesn't cover those expenses.

Matt Szabo, the City Administrative Officer who negotiated the agreement with LA28 alongside the city's Chief Legislative Analyst Sharon Tso, acknowledged the agreement had big limitations. At the same time, he told the council Wednesday that he believed it was the best bet at protecting the city.

" This is not an agreement that is intended or even has the capability of eliminating risk that the city has agreed to take on," Szabo told the council. "The purpose is to limit the risk to the greatest extent possible. And we do believe that it achieves that."

Still, some in city government said the agreement doesn't go far enough to protect taxpayers.

"Despite being delivered months behind schedule, it still fails to establish a clear baseline of City services, financial protections for Los Angeles taxpayers, and accountability that the City needs to successfully host the Games," said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who was one of four councilmembers to vote against the agreement, in a statement.

The agreement now heads to Mayor Karen Bass and Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson for a signature with LA28.

Concerns about the deal with security costs looming

A sticking point for dissenters is security costs — which are expected to be massive. Organizers and the city are counting on the federal government to pay for public safety at Olympic venues that are considered part of a "national special security event."

LA28 has not included security costs in its $7.1 billion budget — a fact that City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto criticized earlier this year.

The federal government has so far allocated $1 billion for security costs for the Olympics. Exactly where those federal funds will go has not yet been determined, and there's no guarantee they will cover all of L.A.'s policing costs.

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell estimated LAPD personnel costs alone could exceed that total, putting the cost for his department at $1.15 billion in one budget memo issued earlier this year.

Protections for the city are limited

Under an agreement approved by the council Wednesday, if L.A. is not reimbursed by the federal government for all its eligible expenses, it could dip into LA28's contingency fund of $270 million before the private organizing committee could use that money for any legacy projects.

Here's the catch: that bucket will first be used for any costs that Olympics organizers still owe if they run out of revenue — meaning if the Olympics don't turn a profit, the city's access to that money will depend on how much is left for the taking.

" LA28 has no real incentive not to bankrupt us," said Chris Tyler with the community organization Strategic Actions for a Just Economy in public comment. "And if they come in under-fundraised and over-budget, taxpayers will be on the hook for billions of dollars potentially."

Szabo, the city administrative officer, said later in the council meeting that the Olympics turning a profit was in L.A. and LA28's best interest.

" We are joined at the hip here," he said. "They want a successful Olympics. They want to have a successful legacy for those '28 Olympics. We want a successful Olympics."

The agreement is late — and some still say it was rushed

At the Wednesday meeting, several city council members introduced six amendments to the agreement with LA28, aimed at clarifying or tightening LA28's obligation to the city.

All but one proposal was referred to committee for further discussion, and weren't included in the final agreement. Council President Harris-Dawson warned the council that approving amendments would send the city back into negotiations with LA28 that had already dragged on for years.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who introduced two amendments seeking to regularly audit LA28's finances and guarantee reimbursements for unexpected "health and safety incidents" related to the Games, responded saying she hadn't had adequate time to consider the deal.

" I have Dodger Stadium in my district, which is an Olympic venue," she said. "So you're asking me to make a decision on something that's going to impact us for years to come, and particularly within the heart of my district, but I was only briefed two weeks ago."

City Controller Kenneth Mejia also criticized the process in an interview with LAist.

" Why are we rushing through this thing so fast?" he said, calling the deal "fiscally irresponsible" and asking: "Why are we not trying to maximize protections for the city today?"

Some, though, told the council they thought the agreement, which was due Oct. 1, 2025, was already too delayed.

" Every additional month of delay reduces the run[way] for detailed planning for our businesses," said Jacqueline Iniguez with the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce in public comment. "The city and LA28 now need to move forward together quickly to keep the 2028 games on track." 

More big agreements ahead 

Jacie Prieto Lopez, a spokesperson for LA28, said Olympics organizers were proud of the final agreement, saying it "delivers on our commitment to execute a safe, secure, and fiscally responsible Games that benefit Los Angeles for decades to come."

The agreement approved by council Wednesday will serve as a master document as the city now goes on to execute "Venue Service Agreements" – even more specific agreements between LA28 and the city on what services will be provided at each venue in the city.

Other municipalities hosting Olympic venues will also have to execute their own agreements with LA28 on reimbursement.

How those agreements are inked will also have implications for the city of Los Angeles. It's the financial backer of the entire Olympics, whether the venues fall inside city boundaries or not.

On Wednesday morning, Los Angeles Unified School District students returned to campuses for the first day of school. For many, that meant coming back to schools located near a Boyle Heights warehouse that burned for more than a week in June.

The disaster forced the district to relocate summer programs at several nearby schools, including Christopher Dena Elementary. But on the morning of back-to-school, Maria Bravo said she was ready for her third-grade son and sixth-grade daughter to get back into Dena Elementary classrooms

“ I know that they're going to be in a good place here,” Bravo said. She said her kids needed a new routine after a summer spent largely indoors, trying to avoid the heat and the smell of rotting food wafting from the Lineage warehouse.

“They're going to find ways to keep them busy and active, and at the same time safe," Bravo said.

Principal Robert Salazar said classrooms have air purifiers and there’s a plan to bring students inside if rotting food smells interrupt recess or lunch.

“ It's like three plans — we have, A, B and C,” he said.

Karoline Linde, a 5th grade teacher at Dena Elementary, brought souvenirs back from a summer trip to Croatia to include in her Medieval Times unit. " You want the kids to succeed. You want the kids to do their best," Linde said. "That's my job as an educator. How am I gonna do that?"

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However, as has been true throughout the summer, the odor varied across the neighborhood.

At Eastman Elementary, Ivett Dominguez walked her child to Eastman Avenue Elementary School and told LAist the smell outside was “consistent and annoying,” but that she didn’t notice it inside her son’s classroom.

Other parents were more critical of the district’s decision to reopen the schools while the clean-up continued.

LAUSD Superintendent Andrés Chait visits a classroom at Belvedere Middle School the first day of the 2026-2027 school year.

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Andrés Chait, LAUSD’s superintendent, said preliminary attendance results showed about 92% of students enrolled at campuses near the burned warehouse came to the first day of school, exceeding the district’s overall attendance rate of 90%.

“[I have]  gratitude to our communities for having faith in us and in the measures that we took,” Chait said.

He said the district will take “corrective action” where lead and other toxins are found and that he’s directed his team to look into other ways for the district to advocate for climate justice.

“ Our primary role always is to provide education and academic advancement, but I think we can do more than that,” Chait said.

Some environmental health experts and advocates who reviewed the district’s testing results told LAist that school officials have more work to do on testing and cleaning at some campuses.

Environmental testing raises questions about long-term fire impact

District officials said environmental tests — which they released the day before school started — concluded the Boyle Heights warehouse fire did not result in widespread contamination at nearby campuses and affirmed the decision to reopen schools.

Soil tests found lead levels that exceeded California’s acceptable threshold at two elementary school campuses — Christopher Dena and City Terrace. The district said in its report that staff will evaluate whether more testing or cleanup at those sites is needed.

Carlos Torres, director of LAUSD’s Office of Environmental Health and Safety, said the front lawn at City Terrace and the tree wells at Dena, where elevated levels of lead were detected, have been fenced off.

At Christopher Dena Elementary in Boyle Heights, school officials fenced off a tree and a patch of soil where environmental testing found elevated levels of lead.

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Torres said the district doesn’t believe the lead is tied to the warehouse fire.

“Most likely this could be from things like lead-based paints from use in the past. It could be from agricultural use,” Torres told LAist on Tuesday. “There isn't such a thing as clean soil anywhere.”

The district said the levels of several other substances, including ammonia, formaldehyde and manganese, were low enough that they did not threaten the health of students or school staff.

Teacher Jose Salazar introduces Belvedere Middle School students to the different components of the career and technical education class which include engineering, child development and criminal justice on the first day of the 2026-2027 school year.

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Jill Johnston, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at UC Irvine, agreed that elevated lead levels in the soil at nearby schools could have been present before the warehouse fire.

But she expressed concern about test results for ammonia at three schools within two miles of the Lineage warehouse: Eastman Avenue Early Education Center, Humphreys Avenue Elementary School and Stevenson College and Career Prep.

Two indoor samples and one outdoor sample from those campuses were found to have between 319 and 327 micrograms of ammonia per cubic meter.

“Ammonia is a respiratory irritant,” Johnston said. “It can affect lung function, particularly in kids… Breathing in ammonia, particularly at levels that are much higher than background concentrations, is something we want to try to avoid, especially for vulnerable kids.”

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment sets a 200 microgram safety limit for chronic exposure to ammonia, meaning situations where people are breathing in the chemical compound continuously. District officials noted that the test results were far below the state’s 3,200 microgram limit for acute exposure, meaning about an hour or less.

Johnston said closing schools would have been a difficult decision for district officials. But she said additional scrutiny and monitoring at those three schools is warranted.

“If they're also kids from the neighborhood, they're being exposed at home,” she said. “It just builds this evidence that we've been observing over the last several weeks, that toxic chemicals associated with the activities at Lineage are getting into the community, and in this case, is getting inside the schools.”

East L.A. has a long history of pollution linked to nearby freeways and dense industrial development. In May, about 25,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the streets after an underground pipe ruptured.

“This continues to remind us where our schools are located and how vulnerable our communities and schools are,” said Rocío Rivas, school Board vice president and representative for the neighborhood. “I think it's important to elevate the testing and continue to monitor regardless if there's a fire or not.”

The teachers union sent a letter to the superintendent on Aug. 6 with more than a dozen demands related to Boyle Heights schools, including additional environmental testing, heating, ventilation and cooling system upgrades.

“Fire-impacted school communities deserve more than assurances — they deserve an actionable plan that puts health and safety first,” wrote Gloria Martinez, president of United Teachers Los Angeles.

LAist reporter David Wagner contributed to this story.