California teams dealing with hazardous debris, potential battery explosions during wildfire aftermath
In an updated report, a series of devastating wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles during winter 2024-2025 is under scrutiny. The conflagrations decimated over 11,000 homes and 37,000 acres in neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades and Altadena, leaving but nominal traces of the former picture-perfect Southern California localities.
Authorities vowed swift action to aid the rebuilding process. In February, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed a significant milestone – the removal of hazardous debris from over 9,000 properties in just 28 days, marking a new record in the agency's history.
Leading the broadcast tonight, we delve into how this cleanup was accomplished and discuss residents' lingering concerns regarding safety. Some, like Lynn McIntyre of Pacific Palisades, whose traditional 1940s stucco home miraculously survived the blaze, express worry about the fire's aftermath.
Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi spoke with McIntyre:
"Every single house around you is gone. I look at it and I said, why? Why was my house spared?" Lynn McIntyre lamented. "I call myself one of the 'left behinds.' Because I don't have the same set of issues that all of my neighbors have. They're cut and dried. Their properties have burned to the ground. My home did not."
Many ask if McIntyre is one of the lucky ones, but she argues her predicament is far from fortunate. The intense heat of the flames permeated her home, leaving behind little more than a charred ruin.
Thousands of homes remain standing in the burn zones. Strong winds drove smoke and soot into these survivors, and tons of toxic ash and debris now mar their doorsteps. The remnants of modern life's synthetics – appliances, clothing, and carpets – were incinerated at high temperatures, creating unique challenges for the clean-up effort.
The EPA's first step in tackling this urban fire debris was the removal of hazardous waste, including propane tanks, cleaning supplies, and paint cans, while confronting a new challenge: electric vehicles (EVs).
EPA worker Chris Myers, head of the Lithium-Ion Battery Emergency Response Team, spoke on the dangers of damaged EV batteries that can explode or ignite:
"Uncontrolled, out in the public, is very, very dangerous for anyone who is on-site, right, not just our workers, but the public at large."
Myers' team conducted reconnaissance across the burn zones, locating electric vehicles in the debris, contacting power companies, and manufacturers to find the power walls often attached to homes for charging. Approximately 600 EVs were discovered – the majority in Lynn McIntyre's Palisades neighborhood.
To ensure safety, the households identified with EVs are subject to meticulous procedures. Wary of the battery's possible hidden dangers, teams treat the batteries as if they were live grenades in the field. Extracting a battery from one electric vehicle can take a six-person team up to two hours, signifying a delicate and laborious surgical operation.
The temporary processing site showcases the labor-intensive removal process: initially, the top of the vehicle is sawed off, followed by an excavator flipping the vehicle, exposing the battery underneath. Thousands of cells are scooped out and placed into steel drums before being transported to the site for neutralization in a saltwater bath for three days.
California is grappling with the management of the waste resulting from the clean-up operations. There are only two landfills in the state certified to take hazardous materials and even before the fires, they couldn't accommodate all of the state's hazardous waste. The solution? Trucking the waste hundreds of miles away to states such as Utah and Arizona, which have more lenient federal waste standards.
The Army Corps of Engineers, tasked by FEMA to clear the 13,000 properties destroyed by the fires, is making significant strides. More than 9,000 homeowners have opted for their help, and as of last week, about 4,400 parcels had been cleared. The remaining debris is being transported to 17 landfills and recycling centers across California.
Six inches of soil are removed from each property to eliminate potential contaminants seeping into the ground. McIntyre, however, is skeptical:
"In your mind, six inches is deep enough to remove the soil to make the area safe?"
Col. Eric Swenson: "Absolutely."
McIntyre's skepticism isn't unfounded. California Governor Gavin Newsom has asked FEMA to test the remaining soil for toxic contaminants, as they have done after previous wildfires. However, FEMA argues that its approach to soil testing changed in 2020 since contamination deeper than six inches was typically pre-existing and unnecessary for public health protection.
Matthew Craig, a resident of Altadena who lost his home to the fire, questions the safety of his neighborhood:
"There's a ton of debris. And you'll see that debris all over my house. And you can smell it as soon as you open the door. Craig's home is frozen in time…"
The battle for safety, clarity, and answers continues for communities affected by the devastating wildfires, shedding light on the complexities of urban fire debris clean-up and management efforts needed going forward.
- The news has been focusing on the aftermath of the wildfires in Los Angeles, particularly discussing the cleanup process for impacted neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
- In the wake of the wildfires, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completed a record-breaking cleanup task by removing hazardous debris from over 9,000 properties in just 28 days.
- Residents, such as Lynn McIntyre, who lost neighbors but managed to save their homes, are concerned about the fire's aftermath and safety issues caused by fire debris, particularly electric vehicles (EVs).
- As part of the cleanup effort, the EPA had to address the challenge of damaged EV batteries, which can pose potential dangers of explosion or ignition, requiring careful handling and extraction.
- California is struggling to manage and dispose of the waste resulting from the wildfires clean-up, with only two landfills in the state certified to take hazardous materials, and they are already at capacity.
- Residents like Matthew Craig of Altadena, who lost his home, are questioning the safety of their neighborhoods and seeking clear answers for the clean-up and management of the remaining debris, highlighting the need for updated environmental-science-based solutions in the face of ongoing climate-change-related natural disasters.
