Eaton Fire victims claim thousands of homes still have toxins despite remediation
A coalition of Eaton Fire victims is calling on California officials for help with "clearance before occupancy" after their testing showed that toxins remain inside homes despite remediation.
Bill and Nina Malone live in one of the homes that still has toxins deep inside, despite having a remediation company clean their home twice.
"This house is contaminated," Bill Malone said. "They didn't clean under any of this. We are still finding soot and stuff in our drawers and cabinets. And, if it's in our drawers and cabinets, we can't trust anything."
The organization, Eaton Fire Residents United, stated that their testing revealed thousands of homes that survived the disaster were still contaminated with lead and other toxins. Four heavy metals – Chromium, Barium, Copper, and Zinc – tested positive 100% of the time.
"We started digging into it, and our neighboring scientists — JPL, Cal Tech — a bunch of us came together," said Dawn Fanning, a member of Eaton Fire Residents United. "We started collecting the data that came from the industrial hygienist testing."
Fanning said their samples from a majority of homes tested positive for chemicals despite remediation:
- 96% tested positive for lead
- 69% tested positive for wildfire debris contamination
- 36% tested positive for asbestos
Lead-based paint was common in houses before the federal government banned it in 1978. A Caltech study found that 90% of the homes in Altadena were built before 1975.
Eaton Fire Residents United will present their findings and urge state officials to enforce clear safety standards before anyone is allowed to return to their homes.
