Nearly two weeks after the Eaton fire forced Claire Robinson to flee her Altadena home, she returned, donning a white hazmat suit, a respirator and goggles.

The brick chimneys were among the few recognizable features of the quaint three-bedroom 1940 house neighboring Farnsworth Park. Nearly everything else was reduced to ashes.

The scorching heat melted the glass awards her daughter had received for her theater performances, leaving behind deformed globs of crystal. Where her washer and dryer once stood, Robinson found only a blackened metal frame. The flames even managed to consume her cast-iron bathtub.

“The screws were the only thing that didn’t vaporize,” Robinson said after she scoured through the debris. “Everything else is in the air.

“How do we live in this highly toxic environment and make sure that people aren’t being sent back to their homes prematurely?” she said. “Families are just being told, ‘You’re clear to go in.’ They’re calling us and saying, ‘Is it safe?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’”

Tens of thousands of wildfire survivors, including Robinson, have returned to ash-cloaked neighborhoods, even as serious questions about what could be lurking in the debris remain unanswered.

Environmental regulators and public health officials have warned survivors that fire-damaged neighborhoods are probably brimming with toxic chemicals and harmful substances, such as brain-damaging lead and lung-scarring asbestos fibers. Air monitors have measured elevated levels of heavy metals miles downwind of the wildfires.

However, despite the dire warnings from environmental and health officials, fire officials and law enforcement have decided to reopen large swaths of the evacuation zones before disaster personnel could sweep residential communities for some of the most dangerous materials — such as firearm ammunition, propane tanks, pesticides, paint thinner and car batteries.

The EPA’s hazardous waste cleanup was initially projected to last three months. Earlier this week, President Trump signed a federal directive to shorten the cleanup time to 30 days, prompting EPA officials to increase the number of personnel and teams assigned to the hazmat response, and accelerate the process.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers’ debris removal was expected to take 18 months. After Trump’s recent visit to L.A., the Army Corps now says it can be done in a year.

“Once a crew shows up to a property, depending on the complexity of that site, it can take two to ten days to clear the debris from that site,” said Col. Eric Swenson of the Corps. “It just really depends on how fast we get those rights of entry.”

As the monumental work of cleaning up the burned zones begins, Robinson and others say they would like to have clearer guidance and support from government agencies to keep people safe from toxic materials.

Robinson said she thinks it’s alarming that many people have been returning to their destroyed homes without wearing protective gear, and have not been adequately warned about the risks as they begin to clean up their contaminated properties.

“We know that it’s all combusted, and it’s all in the air — metals, plastics. I think it’s unbelievable that people are being told just to go ahead and go back in,” Robinson said. “There’s a lack of coordinated, comprehensive expert response.”

This week, officials from the federal Environmental Protection Agency supervised specialized crews as they began collecting these substances, the first step in what is expected to be a yearlong, multibillion-dollar cleanup and recovery.

As of Wednesday morning, the EPA-led personnel had conducted preliminary surveys of about 2,500 of an estimated 14,500 fire-damaged properties. These crews have been collecting and removing hazardous waste only since Monday. After two days, they had cleared a total of three homes — marking the properties with laminated placards fixed on wooden posts.

A sign indicates EPA contractors have cleared out hazardous materials at a property in Altadena.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

“As places were being [reopened], we had to take a different strategy,” said Harry Allen, an on-scene coordinator for the EPA. “Most fires, we haven’t had [people returning] this early. Because we’re in L.A., it’s really important that people are able to return. … So in this case, as Cal Fire lifted evacuation zones, we said, ‘Let’s get in there, let’s do recon as quickly as we can in advance of repopulation.’”

In California, where electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids make up more than one-quarter of car sales, the U.S. EPA has had to exercise extreme caution around an estimated 1,000 fire-damaged, lithium-ion car batteries — perhaps the most ever damaged by a wildfire. These batteries — also used in e-bikes, scooters and small electronics — have been known to ignite, explode or release toxic gases when exposed to extreme heat or fire.

“It’s probably going to be the biggest lithium-ion battery removal activity that’s taken place in this country, if not the world,” said Steve Canalog, deputy incident commander for EPA Region 9, who has overseen cleanups of wildfires, floods, earthquakes and chemical spills.

“Just the high heat can damage the integrity of these battery systems, and they become very unstable and have the risk of spontaneously catching on fire and exploding,” Canalog said. “We have to treat them as unexploded ordnance.”

Because of the risk, EPA personnel transport each battery individually to processing areas. The batteries are often soaked in a saltwater bath to drain the remaining power, and are eventually shredded and taken to recycling facilities.

Hazmat crews typically hear popping and hissing sounds from damaged lithium-ion batteries. In neighborhoods where homes are only a few dozen feet apart, the EPA is telling residents that they should maintain a football-field-length distance from such batteries to avoid injury.

“At the end of the day, you can’t put out a lithium-ion battery fire. It burns so hot and energetically, and you can’t put it out with water or sand or fire blankets. The firefighting strategy is just to let it burn,” Canalog said.

On Wednesday morning, EPA-contracted crews fanned out across a fully razed block in Altadena.

Personnel wore white hazmat suits, blue latex gloves, black sunglasses and respirators as they navigated around a burned-out panel van and blackened metal bed frame. The workers sifted through the ash and debris left in the footprint of a house on Pine Street with shovels and hand tools until they discovered hazardous waste.

An EPA contractor looks for hazardous materials at a home in Altadena.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

One worker carefully held the charred remnants of an iPhone between his index finger and thumb, gently placing it into a black trash bag held by a colleague. Soon after, another approached with his hands full.

“These are all batteries,” he said as he dropped about 20 scorched cylinders into a 5-gallon bucket one by one.

Earlier in the week, another crew extracted a lithium-ion battery from the husk of a Tesla sedan next door. They placed fire-damaged compressed-gas tanks in a row on the front lawn and marked each canister with a white “X,” an indication the fuel had already been burnt.

The EPA has been gathering EV batteries and other hazardous materials found on wrecked properties and moving them to two processing areas: a site near Topanga Beach, where the Santa Monica Mountains meet the Pacific Ocean, for Palisades fire debris; and a site in Lario Park near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in unincorporated Irwindale for Altadena waste. There, EPA crews sort the materials before they’re transported to landfills — exactly where is still unknown.

The decision to stockpile hazardous waste in Lario Park sparked swift backlash from residents and public officials. Four nearby cities — Duarte, Azusa, Irwindale and Baldwin Park — have lodged official complaints arguing that transporting hazardous substances 15 miles outside the Eaton fire and into a popular recreation area poses a risk to thousands more.

“The wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles County must be cleaned up, but I cannot understand how trucking hazardous waste through so many vulnerable communities, and placing near homes and schools, is the best possible option,” said Michael Cao, mayor of Arcadia, another city near the site.

The EPA has not responded to the complaints, but agency officials said its crews have installed liners to prevent toxic chemicals from leaching into soil. They will also conduct soil testing after their work has concluded.

The EPA’s hazardous waste removal alone is expected to take several months. Once that work is completed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will step up for the second phase: the removal of ash and debris from properties whose owners have signed up for free cleanup, which is expected to take up to 18 months. Property owners can also opt to hire specialized private contractors if they choose to pay the cost themselves.

Although the smoke and ash from any wildfire are considered harmful, urban wildfires are especially dangerous. The smoke and ash from structures and cars can contain more than a hundred toxic chemicals and poisonous gases, according to state officials. Perhaps the most notable is lead, a heavy metal — which has no safe level of exposure for anyone, and which can permanently stunt the development of children when inhaled or ingested.

During the 2018 Camp fire in Paradise, elevated levels of airborne lead lingered for longer than a day. The metal-infused pollution traveled more than 150 miles and was measured as far away as San Jose and Modesto.

On Jan. 7, as the L.A. County wildfires broke out, air samples measured “highly elevated levels” of lead and arsenic over a dozen miles downwind of the Eaton fire, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The highest concentration was recorded in Vernon, about 13 miles southwest.

Wearing protective gear, Eaton fire victim Ian Crick and his friend Matt Listiak search for keepsakes and valuables at his burned-out home in Altadena.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Separately, a Los Angeles-based air quality monitor supported by federal funding showed that hourly measurements of airborne lead spiked on Jan. 8 and 9, when smoke from the Eaton fire cast a pall from Altadena to San Pedro.

As the Eaton fire approached the home of Felipe Carrillo, he urged his wife and two children to evacuate while he stayed behind to protect the home with a garden hose fitted with a high-pressure nozzle. For hours, Carrillo said, he tried to defend their home by preemptively spraying water onto the roof and later extinguishing small fires sparked by the onslaught of wind-driven embers.

By the next day, his was one of the few homes left standing on the block. It wasn’t until a week later that it dawned on Carrillo that he should also be worried about the smoke and toxic chemicals he was exposed to in the overnight firefight — which he waged without any protective gear.

“In that moment, it was fight or die,” Carrillo said.

After things calmed down, he went to see a doctor, who monitored his breathing for any signs of fluid buildup.

“They told me, you know, unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing any effects that may linger from the fact that you fought a fire without a mask or anything,” Carrillo said.

Ahead of the recent rainfall, Carrillo returned to the house to put sandbags around the perimeter of his property to keep ash from drifting onto the property. He’s also temporarily moved his family out of Altadena out of worry that his 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter could inhale the same toxic chemicals that he may have already been exposed to. In addition to the recent strong winds that have whipped up dust, Carrillo fears the ensuing cleanup will also kick up contaminants.

Army Corps of Engineers officials said they would spray water and mist on wildfire ash and debris to reduce the risk of airborne contaminants during their cleanup, but Carillo remains concerned.

“What about these dust storms that they’re gonna cause?” Carrillo said. “Let’s say my kids are in the backyard playing football and this big bulldozer kicks up a lot of dust and my kids inhale it?”

Some of the most concerning toxic contamination could be from older buildings. Lead-based paint and asbestos-containing construction materials were commonly used in homes until they were banned in the late 1970s. About 86% of the buildings near the Eaton fire, and 74% near the Palisades fire, were built before 1980, according to Cal Fire.

For Jane Williams, executive director of the nonprofit California Communities Against Toxics, the copious amounts of ash and rubble hearken back to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. In the months that followed, first responders and residents were exposed to a hazardous mix of asbestos, silica dust, heavy metals and other dangerous substances.

As the years passed, many of those affected by the devastation at Ground Zero were diagnosed with long-term health issues such as asthma, diminished lung function and other respiratory problems.

Over the course of January 2025, Williams watched in dread as social media videos and news coverage emerged showing Southern California residents whose homes had been destroyed sifting through the rubble unmasked.

“It’s exactly what happened with the Twin Towers,” Williams said. “This is the disaster after the disaster. Tens of thousands of people will go back to their properties, and most of them will not wear masks.”

At this point, little is known about the contaminants lingering in the wildfire ash in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. The August 2023 fire in Maui similarly incinerated residential communities composed largely of older housing. After that wildfire was quelled, experts found that ash contained a myriad of heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, copper and cobalt.

The L.A. fires have also led to concerns about water contamination. Water districts in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades/Malibu area have issued “do not drink” advisories for some areas. Suppliers that manage these water systems are assessing impacts of the fires, making repairs and testing for contamination.

According to the State Water Resources Control Board, these advisories “were issued as a precautionary measure until the condition of the system could be determined.” That said, the board’s website also notes that while building materials can contain chemicals that may contaminate water runoff from burned areas, this generally does not affect drinking water supplies, which are protected from exposure as long as infrastructure wasn’t directly damaged.

Completing the extensive cleanup efforts in the burned areas of L.A. will probably take years. In the meantime, residents — not just in the neighborhoods that burned but those nearby too — wonder how to protect themselves.

For example, Garo Manjikian evacuated from his Pasadena home with his wife and three children as the Eaton fire exploded. The family returned to find their house and garden covered in a layer of ash.

They spent days cleaning the house; washing their clothes, bedding and rugs; and throwing away pillows that had absorbed smoke. Manjikian said he hosed ash off the roof and out of the gutters, and power-washed the outside walls. Inside, he used the power washer and a shop vac to clean out ash that had collected in the windowsills.

“I decided to just do everything I can myself to remove the ash,” said Manjikian, who rented three industrial air purifiers and ran them in the house for about a week. “I still don’t for sure know how toxic it still might be in the house, but at this point, there is no more smell of smoke.”

But fine ash continued to float down, coating the house and the yard. Manjikian and his wife have been urging their three sons, the oldest aged 8 and the twins aged 5, not to play outside. And when they do have to leave the house, the boys are getting used to wearing masks again, like they did during the pandemic.

An EPA contractor looks for hazardous materials at a home in Altadena.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

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Manjikian has heard that some homeowners, schools and businesses have been paying for lab tests out of their own pockets to determine what types of contaminants need to be cleaned up. He said it would be helpful if the results of those tests could be made available for him and others who might have been exposed to hazardous waste.

“If they do the testing and find out there’s toxic material there, that would be good information for the neighboring houses to have, whether it came back positive on the toxic particles or negative,” Manjikian said.

For Robinson, the Altadena resident whose home was destroyed in the Eaton fire, the disaster has brought multiple layers of grief and unanswered questions.

Robinson is the founder of Amigos de los Rios, a nonprofit group, and already knew the importance of wearing protective gear to guard against hazardous materials during river cleanups and park construction projects.

When she returned to inspect the ruins of her home, as well as the group’s nearby office, which also was destroyed, she and her husband spent about $250 at a hardware store buying two disposable coverall suits, nitrile gloves and leather gloves to go over them, plus multiple packages of goggles, booties and N100 masks.

Robinson said she thinks L.A. County officials should be doing much more to help residents understand the risks and to protect themselves. Residents shouldn’t be left in the dark, she said, about how much danger they might encounter as they sift through the ashes.

“I would expect there to be a much more concerted, organized, comprehensive effort to share information,” she said, and also to provide protective gear for those who can’t afford to buy it.

Robinson is also concerned about the health effects. Recently, she has had difficulty breathing unlike anything she remembers. At times, she feels tightness in her chest, and experiences a fit of coughing and wheezing.

She said it’s crucial that as others return to inspect their devastated neighborhood, they take measures to protect themselves.

“I’m less concerned about looting,” Robinson said, “than I am about people being exposed to these things and facing short, medium and long-term health impacts.”

Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.