200 employees of NASA's JPL lost homes in the Eaton Fire. Now the lab is working to protect LA

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which was threatened by the flames of a recent LA wildfire, is working with the state of California on new technologies to monitor the air and water surrounding Los Angeles County's fire-torn communities. 

JPL, the laboratory behind the first U.S. satellite launched into space, is based in La Cañada Flintridge, one of the communities in northeast LA County affected by the devastating Eaton Fire. About 200 JPL employees lost their homes in the blaze, which killed 17 people in the neighboring community of Altadena just five miles away. The NASA lab, which has collaborated with the state in the past on projects tracking pollution and groundwater levels, will now join state efforts examining water and air quality in LA.

While the renowned lab is perhaps best known for its work in outer space, this latest effort will help the state perform research into just how much recent wildfires have polluted water and air in the region — looking to detect contaminants such as lead, black carbon arsenic and other metals. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the new effort in a statement Thursday.

Several steps are being taken as part of the new collaboration between NASA's JPL and the state, including the following:

• Air quality monitoring: 1) The NASA lab is establishing a new air monitoring site in Altadena which will measure levels of gaseous air pollutants as well as harmful particulate airborne matter such as lead and other metals. 2) Together with the California Air Resources Board, JPL is developing a sample collection of particulate matter for filtering and analysis of metal contents. 3) JPL is working on a project out of Caltech, called PHOENIX, which is running an air quality monitoring network that measures airborne dust and ash across Altadena and other communities in the region — offering real-time observations of air quality. 
• Water quality: 1) JPL is offering satellite imaging to monitor the water quality of the Pacific Ocean, a joint effort alongside the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. 2) The state is working with JPL on deploying X-band radar, ground-based radars to analyze precipitation and clouds, to collect data on storm structures — information that can then be used on initiatives to protect watersheds and monitor post-fire debris flows. 3) JPL's AVIRIS-3 is flying over wildfire burn scars in LA to measure the distribution levels of ash on the ground and air, gathering data that can be used in later sampling and recovery efforts.

Newsom's office said JPL is the largest employer of people impacted by the Eaton Fire. The blaze, which broke out the same day as the Palisades Fire, is now considered one of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires recorded in state history.  

"While JPL is known for exploring the farthest reaches of our solar system, their scientists – many directly impacted by these fires – have turned their attention toward helping their neighbors," Newsom said in a statement from his office.

The research and development center, managed by Caltech, was threatened by the Eaton Fire in January. Ian Pinkham, an emergency manager at the NASA lab, said days after the fire started that he could see the flames growing closer to the campus.

"We are right here, tucked up in the foothills. It was very scary Tuesday night, Wednesday morning," Pinkham told CBS News at the time. "We could see the fire very clearly from here, approaching the lab."

With the more than 100-acre campus evacuated, JPL Director Laurie Leshin said it was unusual to see the missions operation room — where staff manage controls and communications that reach beyond the solar system — completely empty.

"It is the first time in 60 years that we've had to pull people out of this mission operations room," Leshin said.