In Los Angeles, crews from the Environmental Protection Agency have started showing up in hazmat suits and digging through all the potential hazardous waste that the wildfires have left behind.
Typical household items have been transformed into potential hazards by the searing heat, says Steve Calanog, the EPA’s deputy incident commander for the Southern California wildfires. These include pesticides, fertilizers, paint solvents, cleaning fluids and propane tanks, along with detritus from hobbies such as auto repair and pottery kilns.
“There’s always a plethora of damaged ammunition from sporting rifles,” he says. All of these items, compromised by the high heat and destruction of the wildfires, could catch fire, react, explode, or leak toxic and corrosive chemicals.