Some houses in Altadena tested positive for harmful toxins, preventing families from returning to their homes. Lolita Lopez reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
Despite continued cleanup work in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades to remove debris in the aftermath of the January wildfires, many families have not been able to return home largely due to carcinogens and other harmful toxins inside their properties as well as their neighborhoods.
More than 50 homes in the Altadena area torched by the Eaton Fire were estimated to have contaminants like lead and asbestos, according to a neighborhood group called Eaton Fire Residents United.
After the grassroots organization asked neighbors to anonymously provide results of air quality and toxin testing, it has now mapped out the findings.
"Ninety-eight percent of those 57 tests, which span all through Altadena, northern Pasadena and western Sierra Madre, all show positive for contaminants," said Jane Lawton Potelle, who is worried about the toxins inside her home as it is just 150 or 200 feet from three burnt structures.
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Nicole Maccalla whose home is intact after the Eaton Fire does not know when she and her family can finally go home after the property tested positive for lead and asbestos.
As Maccalla was getting ready to return to her house with two kids with chronic asthma and mom with COPD and asthma, she decided to shell out $2,500 to test for toxins.
“It tests positive for lead, tests positive for wildfire debris,” the homeowner said, adding her insurance refused to cover the testing cost. “Unfortunately I couldn't do really extensive testing because it costs too much money.”
As many older homes could contain asbestos and lead in Altadena and other parts of Southern California, the full effect of the fire is yet to be known, according to Maccalla.
The Eaton Fire victims like her and Lawton Potelle want the state and county to conduct more widespread tests.
"We need guidance on what types of tests are needed and and how to make those affordable for people, then the proper remediation steps that are needed right," Maccalla said.
Lawton Potelle suggested that the California Disaster Assistance Act be more involved in testing for toxins and contaminants.
"(The state can) help people who either can't get their insurance to pay for this kind of testing or perhaps they don't have insurance. Or maybe they have the California Fair Plan, which doesn't give them the option at all to to even remediate," she said.
In response to the complaints, LA County told NBC Los Angeles that it does not track indoor testing of private properties, adding property owners can hire certified professionals.
The California Department of Insurance and Office of the Emergency Services did not respond to NBCLA's questions.
