New Podcast Focuses on Caltech Scientists’ Race to Conduct Research after the January Fires

In the aftermath of the fires that raged across Los Angeles County in January—and in particular the Eaton fire that burned through parts of Altadena and got close to NASA’s JPL, which is managed by Caltech—the Institute did what it does best: came together as a community to support individuals touched by the tragedy and started asking and addressing the most critical research questions.

In just the past couple of months, Institute scientists have deployed sensors to collect information on air quality, tested samples of soil and ash from the burn zone and beyond, monitored debris-flow models that predict areas of concern, studied how the mountains react to rains after fires, and contributed to conversations about community resilience and rebuilding.

To bring those efforts, and the information they are garnering, to public attention, the Caltech Science Exchange has launched a limited-series podcast, After the Fires, to highlight what Institute scientists and engineers have learned. In the first episode, researchers explain what dangerous particulates were found in the local air after Eaton. Says geochemist Francois Tissot:

“The thing with Altadena, which is also where my house [is], 90 percent of the houses were built before the 1970s, before lead paint was banned, which means that there is a very high chance for lead to be released during the fires.”

Tissot also explains his work in mapping the spread of toxins around the area.

“Urban fires can release heavy metals such as cadmium and lead either as vapors or fine particles. And these will be transported by the winds and then deposited depending on the trajectory of the vapor fire plume. And so a question that is on everybody’s mind is: How much were heavy metals released by the Eaton fire? … How much of these metals were deposited?”

Listen and subscribe to After the Fires for free in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Future topics include community resiliency and rebuilding and modeling debris flows.