“DANGER: Lead Work Area” reads a sign on a front door of an Altadena home. “May damage fertility or the unborn child. Causes damage to the central nervous system.”

Block after block there are reminders that contaminants still linger.

House cleaners, hazardous waste workers and homeowners alike come and go wearing masks, respirators, gloves and hazmat suits as they wipe, vacuum and power-wash homes that weren’t burnt to ash.

It’s been a year of heartbreak and worry since the most destructive wildfires in the Los Angeles area’s history scorched neighborhoods and displaced tens of thousands of people. Two wind-whipped blazes that ignited on Jan. 7, 2025, killed at least 31 people and destroyed nearly 17,000 structures, including homes, schools, businesses and places of worship. Rebuilding will take years.

As flames incinerated whole blocks in Southern California, fierce winds pushed dark, speckled ash through Rossana Valverde’s door frames, windows and vents. Her home stood a short drive from the worst destruction caused by January’s Eaton Fire, but she had gotten lucky: Apart from a singed tree, her property appeared unscathed.

Yet the acrid stench in the bungalow she shared with her husband suggested otherwise. The remains of other people’s homes now permeated hers.

• State regulators ordered Edison to assess fire risks on 355 miles of unused transmission lines, including the century-old equipment suspected of igniting the Eaton fire.

• Edison must create a plan to address those idle lines, potentially including removal, marking the first major regulatory action related to electric infrastructure after the fire killed 19 people.

• Regulators are requiring other California utilities to take similar actions with their dormant transmission lines.

State regulators ordered Southern California Edison to identify fire risks on its unused transmission lines like the century-old equipment suspected of igniting the devastating Eaton wildfire.

• Federal oversight reports allege that the main contractor hired to clean up the Eaton and Palisades fires may have illegally dumped toxic ash, reused contaminated soil and cut corners.

• Inspectors documented crews moving fire debris onto neighboring properties, burying ash and burned materials to avoid full removal, re-contaminating “cleared” lots and spraying polluted water into storm drains.

• Despite warnings about lead and other toxins, FEMA refused to fund post-fire soil testing. State agencies are noncommittal about how they will handle such testing in the future.

The primary federal contractor entrusted with purging fire debris from the Eaton and Palisades fires may have illegally dumped toxic ash and misused contaminated soil in breach of state policy, according to federal government reports recently obtained by The Times.

• A blistering Times investigation found that the Fire Department cleaned up its after-action report, downplaying missteps.

• The LAFD cannot be trusted to honestly and thoroughly investigate itself.

• The Times obtained seven drafts of the LAFD’s after-action report on the Palisades fire.

• Deletions and revisions in the drafts amounted to an effort to downplay the failures of city and LAFD leadership.

• The most significant edits involved the LAFD’s deployment decisions before the fire, as the wind warnings became increasingly dire.

The parent company of Southern California Edison has admitted their equipment likely sparked the fatal Eaton Fire, but a new Los Angeles Times report indicates the company perhaps could have done more to stop it.

The Times explained that for four years before January’s wildfires, SCE billed customers for “hundreds of millions of dollars authorized for transmission line maintenance and upgrades.”

Those funds, however, weren’t immediately put to use by the utility, the Times said, citing regulatory records.