As some residents are permitted to return to their homes in fire-impacted communities, authorities warned people Thursday to take precautions against lingering hazards in damaged homes, such as wearing gloves and protective eye goggles and even masks.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said officials want to equip residents "with tolls to return safely," adding that "debris-cleaning kits will be made available."
The county's public health officer, Dr. Muntu Davis, noted that homes in the fire area could have lingering dangers such as asbestos and heavy metals. He said people should take precautions when returning, such as wearing an N-95 mask, gloves and closed-toed shoes.
Sheriff's department officials said people should avoid any direct contact with ash, which could contain toxic substances, and people with respiratory conditions should limit their exposure and wear protective N-95 masks.
Residents were also advised to check their utilities, since power, water and natural gas service may not have been restored in many areas. Residents should not attempt to restore utility service on their own, and they should immediately report any damage to utility equipment or a smell of gas.
Sheriff's officials also said residents should take photos and document damage to their homes before beginning any cleanup effort.
Most evacuation orders in the fire areas remain in place, but residents in areas that experienced less severe damage have been allowed to return in recent days. Fire and law enforcement officials said it could be more than a week before many other residents are allowed to return to their homes, since search-and-rescue operations are continuing, and crews are just beginning the process of removing hazardous materials from the burn areas.
Tara Fitzgerald, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's incident commander for the fires, said the agency has personnel in the Eaton and Palisades burn areas "conducting assessments."
"We're working closely with state and local agencies to conduct this work," she said. "The initial phase of household hazardous materials includes removal of the most immediate risk to public health and workers returning to work within the burn footprints -- that includes things like pesticides, batteries, including the risk of damaged lithium ion batteries, fuel and other things that would normally go to the household hazardous waste management landfill."
Mark Pestrella, the county's public works director, noted that many properties "have been damaged beyond belief."
"They are full of sediment, debris, silt and hazardous materials," he said.
He said that while the EPA is removing toxic items, "what remains is a load of debris that also has to be removed from the site."
"So we are working on that process of debris removal in conjunction with the city of Los Angeles," Pestrella said. "We are also working with utilities to restore power, water and sewer to locations, all of which have been damaged to the point that they cannot be delivered safely currently in most of the areas."
Pestrella also said preparations are underway for another danger that is likely to face the burn areas -- flooding and debris flows.
"We are also assessing the impact to the flood control system that serves the entire region, including both these burn areas," he said. "Both areas suffered watershed damage, burned to such significance that we expect massive debris-laden flows when it rains. Our system of flood control is designed to handle that debris, along with the streets. However, in an event that we have major rain, we do expect all of the street areas in all of the communities will be impacted by debris flows that could be hazardous to human health.
"We are developing plans for both areas to capture and hold this debris back as much as we can during a rain event," Pestrella said. "We do expect the window to open for rain in the later part of this month, so we are already pre-deploying labor forces into the area to make sure that the flood control system is ready, as well as our street system is ready, as much as possible."