Health Officials Warn of Toxic Hazards in Eaton Fire Zone as Recovery Begins

Public health officials issued stark warnings about toxic contamination in areas devastated by the Eaton Fire during a community meeting at Pasadena City College’s Hutto-Patterson Gymnasium on January 12, as local authorities detailed plans for repopulating evacuated neighborhoods.

“It’s incredibly important that you follow this order. The water is — as stated before — contaminated at this point and not being treated to state standards,” warned Mark Pestrella, Director of Los Angeles County Public Works, addressing widespread water safety concerns.

The fire remained 27% contained, with firefighters battling challenging conditions including forecasted wind gusts of 40-50 mph and red flag warnings continuing through Thursday morning.

Officials warned of potential spot fires up to two miles away. Adding to the hazards, crews discovered an underground lithium battery storage facility in the burn area.

“Ash is particularly toxic to young children, so we’re going to urge that young children not be touching any of this contaminated debris because it’s filled with lead asbestos,” said Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Director of Public Health. “We’ve had meltdowns of lithium batteries. You think of your houses as being relatively safe and they are, but when they burn, there’s a lot of toxicity there.”

Air quality experts emphasized that only properly fitted N95 or P100 masks provide adequate protection.

“PM 2.5 is 70 times smaller than the size of your human hair. So if you’re wearing a fabric mask or an unfitted mask or only partially fitting your mask, it’s not protecting you,” explained Jen Croft, Air Resource Advisor.

Officials announced the first area cleared for return — the area south of New York Drive, east of Hill Avenue and west of Altadena Drive has been downgraded to evacuation warning status.

However, a mandatory curfew remains in effect from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. in all evacuation zones. Authorities have made 25 arrests for violations, including illegal drone flights in the restricted airspace.

Multiple assistance programs are available:

• Federal Emergency Management Agency aid through disaster assistance.gov
• Small Business Administration office opening Tuesday at Pasadena City College
• Mail service relocated to 600 Lincoln Avenue Pasadena Post Office
• Food centers at Wilson, Madison, and McKinley schools
• Water distribution at 450 North Lake Avenue Pasadena

Southern California Edison has suspended billing for evacuated addresses and plans to rebuild with more resilient infrastructure, a representative said.

Southern California Gas will begin service restoration from the east side of the affected area.

The state has implemented price gouging protections limiting price increases to 10% and issued an insurance non-renewal moratorium for affected areas.

Damage assessment teams have completed 24% of their inspections, documenting 212 damaged and 1,422 destroyed structures so far. Officials announced the next community update will be held virtually Monday evening.