Sierra Madre residents urge city action after Eaton Fire tests show elevated toxins

Several Sierra Madre residents told the City Council on May 13 they have measured elevated levels of lead, asbestos and other contaminants inside homes and in nearby soil after the January Eaton Fire and subsequent mudslides, and asked the city to help coordinate testing and remediation.

Caroline Helvin, a Lower Canyon resident, said she compiled test results from multiple homes and that “we have lead readings as high as a 88 micrograms per square foot,” and that USC and Caltech researchers have found elevated concentrations in affected urban areas. Derek Sample, another canyon resident, described interior “ghost wipes” taken from chairs, counters and floors that showed “incredibly high levels of zinc…and unbelievably high levels of lead and vanadium and barium and copper.”