City, FEMA and federal crews vow rapid cleanup while residents press for safer staging, faster claims

Councilwoman Tracy Park opened the Los Angeles City Council ad hoc committee on LA Recovery on Jan. 28 by laying out the scale of the disaster and the committee’s mission: “On January 7, a fire broke out in Palisades Highlands, fueled by hurricane level winds… the fire burned over 23,000 acres…and destroyed almost 7,000 structures,” she told the committee.

The first meeting brought federal, state and city recovery leaders together to outline work already underway and the next milestones for public health and private-property cleanup. Curtis Brown, the Federal Coordinating Officer for FEMA, said the agency has “over 500 FEMA staff deployed here” and has approved more than $62 million in individual assistance as the agency also operates transitional sheltering assistance hotels for displaced households.

The City, EPA and the Army Corps described a two-step debris program. EPA is leading an initial Phase 1 that removes household hazardous materials (HHM) and batteries from burned parcels and has reconned thousands of properties. EPA Region 9 emergency manager Mike Montgomery told the committee crews are using collection points and hazardous‑materials teams and said the agency “sample[s] them before. We sample them after,” adding, “we don’t…leave no trace. We leave them better.”

FEMA and state partners have assigned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Phase 2 private property debris removal (PPDR). Colonel Eric Swenson, Recovery Field Office…