LOS ANGELES — The southern California teenager whose home laboratory sparked a nearly weeklong investigation from the FBI last week is speaking out, stating that he’s just a “kid who’s interested in science.”

Last Monday, Irvine Police Department officers were called to a home near Cartwheel and Iluna in a gated Irvine neighborhood after learning of “suspicious materials” discovered by the property’s landlord.

As the investigation continued, both Orange County Fire Authority and FBI investigators were called to the scene after it was determined that the materials were possible indications of chemical nerve agents, according to a source familiar with the investigation. They said that the substances, paired with writings found at the scene, were concerning.

While investigators say that 17-year-old Amalvin Fritz, a pre-medical student slated to graduate from Univeristy of California, Irvine, in the coming months, and his family have cooperated with their investigation, the family still hasn’t been able to return home.

“You know, it’s almost been a week since I’ve been out of my home, and I really want to go back,” Fritz said.

He says that he’s unsure exactly what investigators found that triggered such a chaotic series of events.

“I gave my full cooperation and gave them my phone, and I gave them as much information as possible, but I’m not sure exactly what materials inside the home they would be suspicious about,” Fritz said. “I hope that they can conclude their investigation and we can continue to put this behind us.”

As the investigation progressed, the National Guard’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team was deployed to the neighborhood to assist with the handling of the materials and ongoing probe, which continued over the weekend.

Video from the scene shows FBI personnel dressed in hazardous materials suits and breathing apparatus as they walk to and from the home through the garage. They still haven’t commented on exactly what they discovered as their investigation develops.

Fritz dreams of becoming a doctor one day, according to his attorney, who spoke with CBS LA on Monday. He has posted a few of his home experiments on his YouTube channel, which were also conducted at his home lab.

While he says that anyone can purchase chemicals like acetone online and that he was safe throughout the process, a chemistry professor from California State University, Long Beach, says that his YouTube videos also show his use of isopropylmagnesium chloride and other compounds in an unsafe and inappropriate setting.

“Those experiments needed to be done in a proper lab facility,” said professor Elaine Bernal. She says that acetone is highly flammable, and that the compounds Fritz used would require proper storage due to the risk of a fire or explosion. She also expressed concern over how the chemicals were disposed of, and the escape of gases during the experiments.

“There’s a big environmental and safety concern that I think was worth of investigation. I get that the FBI was there, hazmat was there. I think it’s also important to think of it as the safety of the local community since it’s tight quarters,” Bernal said. “The chemicals that he mentioned are very flammable. My concern is that whatever gases that are emitted, that folks with respiratory issues, sensitive respiratory issues, can be affected.”

Fritz said that his experiments are focused on new therapeutics for cancer and Alzheimers disease, and that he insists nothing he was doing was dangerous. He hopes to enroll in medical school after graduating from UC Irvine.

OAKLAND — Betty Yee knows what people are thinking. She’s heard what they’ve said and read the many emails she’s gotten.

The former state controller has been running for California governor longer than just about anybody in the cheek-by-jowl field. And yet the Democrat is bumping along near the bottom, a blip in polls and a laggard in the money chase.

But no, Yee said, she has no intention of quitting the race, as she’s been urged, and no fear that, by staying in, she’ll help two Republicans advance to November’s runoff, locking Democrats out of the governor’s office for the first time since George W. Bush was president.

“I just don’t see it,” Yee said, given the way Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, the top GOP contenders, are smacking each other around, hoping to emerge as the undisputed Republican standard-bearer.

Beyond that, she said, it’s not as if anyone’s running away with the contest; most polls have shown the leading candidate — which depends on the survey — standing atop the pile with around 20% support.

That isn’t exactly landslide territory.

“The public is still shopping,” Yee said. “In the next month or so, we’re going to try to get [a TV ad] on the air, basically make our case and hope that can spread as voters are getting more focused on the race.”

Which is not to say Yee is delusional.

“As a candidate, I make that assessment every day about whether we’re going to be viable or not,” she said last week, just before stopping by the Alameda County voter registrar‘s office to file paperwork for the June 2 primary.

“Right now, it’s less than a 50-50 chance,” Yee said, suggesting it’s her job to boost those odds by getting voters to appreciate what she offers, which amounts to unvarnished talk about the challenges facing the next governor and the ways Sacramento — which has been run for years by fellow Democrats — isn’t working.

“ ‘Accountability’ has kind of become a dirty word … where it’s about who we’re going to throw under the bus, rather than stepping back and saying, ‘What have we gotten for the dollars that we spend and, if we’re not getting those outcomes, how do we do better?’ ”

Yee served two terms as controller, in effect the state’s chief financial officer, and 10 years before that on the Board of Equalization, which oversees property tax assessments. She’s isn’t trying to buy the governorship, like billionaire Tom Steyer, or leverage her political celebrity, like cable-TV fixtures Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell. Instead, Yee is running a grassroots campaign, visiting nearly all 58 California counties and holding as many face-to-face meetings as humanly possible.

“I’m in the trenches,” she said. “I knock on doors every election cycle because to me, that’s the reality check of where people really are in terms of their lives.”

Which is certainly an admirable approach, albeit a rather idealistic strategy in a state of nearly 23 million voters, spread over roughly 800 miles from north to south. It would take more than two years of round-the-clock campaigning just to give each and every one a quick handshake.

The most notable feature of Yee’s candidacy is her message. She’s not selling barn-burning populism or viral take-downs of President Trump — “I don’t have any gimmicks, I don’t swear, I don’t have a reality-TV show personality” — but rather practical know-how and a deep understanding of state government.

It’s almost quaint in today’s theatrical political environment.

Seated at a sidewalk table outside a coffee stand in downtown Oakland, Yee focused on California’s stretched-thin budget, which happens to be her area of expertise.

“People ask what would you do in your first days as governor, if you have the privilege of serving,” Yee said, as her butterscotch latte sat cooling. “I’d come clean with the voters about where we are fiscally.”

After years of surpluses, she said, the state is spending more than it can afford. Facing a structural deficit, the next governor will have to cut programs and raise taxes, not just one or the other, with corporations and California’s richest residents being forced to cough up more. (She’s dubious, however, of a proposed November ballot measure imposing a one-time 5% tax on billionaires, questioning whether it would stand up in court.)

Sacramento’s credibility, Yee suggested, is on the line.

Before any expansive new programs can be implemented — and she has some notions for how to make life more affordable, increase access to healthcare and create jobs — Californians have to be convinced their tax dollars are being well spent and delivering proven results. “I would really insist on and invite stricter accountability of what we do with our money,” Yee said.

She’s not beyond criticizing the current administration.

“I mean, I’ve been termed out as controller since January 2023. I still get calls from companies in the [European Union], Canada, even Mexico about how we want to do business with California. Who do we talk to?” Yee said. “So I’ll send them over to the governor’s Office of Business Development and they tell me, ‘Well, we try to call people, but nobody’s answering our call.’ ”

(In response, a spokesman for the Office of Business and Economic Development touted California as “a premier hub for international business” and described foreign trade and investment as major drivers of the state economy.)

As for Gov. Gavin Newsom, while she supports his teenaged trolling of Trump, she said it shouldn’t be done through official channels, , or on the taxpayers’ dime.

“We have to focus on making the state work,” Yee said, “and that’s where I’m more focused on because people … want service delivery. They want government to be responsive to their needs. Somebody just pick up the damn phone on the other line to help them.”

Tough medicine, as she described it, and “stabilization” — which is “kind of my theme” — won’t make a great many hearts go pit-a-pat. But Yee hopes that straight talk and her distinct lack of ornamentation will count for something with California voters.

“The climate now is that people are very drawn by the performative approaches,” she said. “However, I think that will change. I want to give [voters] credit, because I do think they are very discerning when they’re ready to mark their ballot.”

The coming weeks will test that premise. And Yee is staying put.

A house fire amid stiff winds brought more than 100 firefighters onto the narrow streets and steep slopes of Laurel Canyon Saturday morning. Firefighters said the three-story house at 8522 West Oak Court was heavily damaged, but the flames did not spread and the blaze was extinguished in a little over an hour with no injuries reported.

L.A. City Fire Battalion Chief Nick Ferrari said “it started on a balcony and caught a whole house on fire. The wind definitely added to its acceleration.”

The first firefighters arrived by 9:45 a.m. as neighbors watched flames rise 10 to 15 feet above the roofline, surrounded by trees bending in the wind. Though the house’s location on a steep slope at the end of a cul-de-sac posed a challenge, the L.A. Fire Department incident report said firefighters were able to knock down the fire in 73 minutes.

Neighbors said the house, a 960-square-foot, three-story residence built in 1961, has its own minor celebrity status in the area. To reach the structure, visitors had to climb a long set of stairs or ride a private tram up the slope. The home was owned by radio personality and John Lennon publicist Elliot Mintz in the 1970s and 1980s, then later by Olympic gold medalist Ian Thorpe (who swam for Australia in the early 2000s). It was featured in Dwell magazine when it was offered for sale in 2024.

“I was told, when I moved in 40 years ago, that John Lennon was there [often], during what was described as his dark years. My neighbor said John Lennon used to come out in the morning and pee off the balcony,” said architect Andew Ratzsch, 68, who lives a few doors down the street.

Wary of winds on Saturday morning, firefighters responded in force.

“We’ve probably got between 20 and 25 pieces of equipment here, counting L.A. County Fire,” L.A. City firefighter Jose Perez said.

Ferrari said firefighters were paying close attention to neighboring structures and vegetation on the slope, with a “structure defense group” remaining on site to monitor areas made vulnerable by the wind. The site would remain on “patrol status through the night and into the morning,” Ferrari said. The Fire Department incident report said that ”crews will be on scene for an extended duration [conducting] overhaul on any hotspots and monitoring the area.”

In January 2025, the Palisades fire was caused by a small arson fire that was handled by firefighters Jan. 1 but rekindled during severe wind conditions six days later. The firestorm plowed through the Pacific Palisades and into Malibu, burning 23,400 acres and leveling more than 6,800 structures, including many homes. Twelve people died.