Los Angeles – Dozens of the Los Angeles residents returned to the Pacific Palisadas devastated by forest fires after officials began to let people return to the burned community, the first opportunity that most had to carefully filter the sites of His old houses.
Sifting through the ashes and debris, they marveled at what survived: everything from appreciated memories to worldly articles of daily life that were now imbued with a new meaning.
“It is good to find those little things that, you know, at one time they did not mean so much,” said Jack Hasset, 22, who was digging through the ruins. “The plates are plates. But now they are, you know, a memory to look back. … It is so scary to see all this, but it is really beautiful in a way. “
Firefighters were close to almost having Palisades fire and the fire eaton completely to the east surrounded after the First significant storm From the season he dosed a region that had been dry for eight months. Both lit on January 7 during the powerful winds of Santa Ana. The fire of Palisades, the largest of the fires, destroyed more than 6,800 structures and killed at least 12 people.
A massive line of serpent vehicles along the Pacific coast road in the morning to a parking lot in Santa Monica where officials distributed permits to lead to the burning zone before night; A curfew was still in force to protect against looting. Before this week, people were allowed to go to a few selected areas with a police escort.
The Sun came out when hundreds of Pacific Palisades, a coastal community of the hillside, once dotted with mansions with spectacular views of the ocean and the center of Los Angeles. Block after block was reduced to gray and black debris.
Many used protection equipment, paying attention to health warnings about Toxic ash That is a mixture of incinerated cars, electronics, batteries, construction materials, paintings, furniture and other household items.
Standing in the remains of his 93 -year -old mother’s house, where he grew up, Tim Bearer, surveyed the impressive scene. He said his stepbrother overcame the police barrier days after the fire and took a video of the house destroyed with his phone, so he knew what to expect.
But it was still emotional to extract the site for family treasures. Surprisingly, his mother’s golf putter was bent, but otherwise it’s fine. Under more Ash there was a heart of porcelain with the words, “I love you mom”, a gift from his sister; Bearer planned to return him to his mother, who was in a friend’s house in Santa Monica.
“My mother will lose it when I show him,” he said.
Last week, the city of Los Angeles and County officials accelerated cleaning efforts And other measures aimed at mitigating the environmental impacts of fire -related pollutants, and the White House said President Donald Trump had ordered federal officials to help local authorities.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has designated Parkland federal property to east of Los Angeles as a temporary storage site for hazardous materials, although several local officials have expressed concern that Lario Park in the San Gabriel Valley could become a permanent toxic landfill.
“While I recognize the importance of addressing the sequelae of the fire and guaranteeing the proper elimination of hazardous waste, this federal project has not included the consultation or consideration of local communities that will be directly affected,” said the supervisor on Monday From Los Angeles County, Hilda Solis. A statement.
Solís and others are concerned that hazardous materials can contaminate the air or leak in the underground water used by hundreds of thousands of people.
The EPA said it would carry out regular air monitoring, would take frequent soil samples, use water trucks to control dust and transport waste out of the area daily. The materials will be transported in surface streets, not on the highways, so that trucks can travel at a slower and more safe speed, said Cesese McCoy de la EPA to the County Supervisors Board at its regular meeting on Tuesday. She said the site would probably be used less than six months, and additional areas are being considered.
“We have a lot of experience in doing this,” said McCoy. “We protect the environment. We protect public health. “
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, also announced an initiative with business leaders and elected officials to help support the recovery and reconstruction of forest fires in Los Angeles.
The Mark Walter Family Foundation and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation promised to provide up to $ 100 million for the effort, the governor said at a press conference at Dodger Stadium. And the NBA legend, Magic Johnson, said he will lead the effort to rebuild Altadena, which has been a refuge for generations of black families that avoid discriminatory housing practices in other places.
“We cannot lose hope,” said Newsom, while we urge the victims of the fire to seek the support of philanthropic effort, the laughter. “It is possible that we can return more the resistant climate, make it stronger.”
In Pacific Palisades, Hasset’s sister put a sign than than her neighbors who echoed that feeling: “We can rebuild this beautiful city together.”
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Associated Press Jae Hong journalists in Santa Monica, Tran Nguyen in Sacramento, Julie Watson in San Diego and Amy Taxin in Orange County contributed.
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