Health and safety

When cleaning, always wear an N95 mask, gloves, long sleeves and pants, and goggles to protect yourself from exposure. Avoid dry sweeping, as this can stir up harmful particles into the air.

Use wet cleaning methods, such as gently hosing down and cleaning outdoor areas, outdoor furniture, windows, windowsills, doors, and doorsills. Wipe surfaces indoors and outdoors with damp cloths. Collect ash in sealed plastic bags and dispose of it in covered trash bins.

If you notice signs of significant soot, smoke residue, or odors in your home, it’s important to assess whether professional cleaning is necessary.

Ash clean-up in areas without fire damage:

• Ash, soot, dust, and other airborne particles may have been deposited inside and outside of homes and businesses. Ash from wildfires is relatively non-toxic but can irritate skin, eyes, nose, and throat.
• Ash in air may trigger asthmatic attacks in people who already have asthma.
• Ash, dust and debris (particularly from burned buildings) may contain toxic and cancer-causing chemicals, including asbestos, arsenic, and lead.
• Do not let children play in or with items covered by the ash.
• To avoid skin contact, wear household dishwashing gloves, a long-sleeved shirt and long pants during clean up. If ash does get on your skin, wash off with warm water and soap as soon as possible.
• If handling broken material (glass, metals, wood, etc.) wear gloves (leather or Kevlar) that protect against cuts, abrasions and punctures.
• A disposable N-95 mask or better can be worn during clean-up to avoid breathing in ash and other airborne particles. However, they do not protect from gases. They can be purchased from a home/hardware store. N-95 masks must be properly fitted, with no gaps around the edges. An improperly fitted mask is the same as wearing no mask at all.
• Try not to get ash into the air.
• Do not use leaf blowers or other actions that will put ash into the air. Gentle sweeping of indoor and outdoor surfaces, followed by wet mopping, is the best way to clean an area with ash. A solution of bleach and water may be used to disinfect an area, if desired. Read label on the containeron container for proper use.
• Wear safety goggles (not safety glasses) if clean-up may cause ash in the air and if using chemical cleaning solutions, to prevent splashing into the eyes.
• Wear safety shoes or sturdy close-toed, high-ankle leather shoes if burn debris (broken glass, metal, wood, etc.) is in the area that is being cleaned.
• Shop vacuums and regular household vacuum cleaners are not recommended to clean up ash. These vacuums do not filter out small particles, and can do more harm by blowing particles into the air where they can be breathed in.
• HEPA-filter vacuums can filter out small particles and can be used.
• Ash may be thrown away in the regular trash by placing it in a plastic trash bag first; this will prevent the ash from becoming airborne and blowing away as the trash can is emptied.
• Shower regularly throughout the day when cleaning in and out of areas with ash.

Important Reminders:

• Follow label instructions on package for proper use
• People who must be outside for extended periods of time in an ash-covered area may benefit from using a tight-fitting N95 respirator or greater to reduce their exposure
• N-95 masks may make it harder to breath, especially for those with lung or heart disease

The following guidelines are helpful when selecting a professional cleaning or restoration service contractor for smoke, soot, and ash restoration.

First, if you’re filing an insurance claim, check with your insurance company to see if they have firms they would recommend or firms they contract with for this type of work. If you end up looking for a professional cleaning contract yourself, confirm that the contractor is properly licensed by the State or County and has the required bonding and liability insurance coverage. Additionally, you can ask the contractor if they work with your insurance company and verify this with your insurance agent.

You may also want to check references, check with the Better Business Bureau, and/or follow up with past customers to ask about their experiences with a particular contractor prior to signing a contract.

It is also essential to request certifications from the contractor, including company and employee certifications from organizations like the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and the Restoration Industry Association (RIA).

Before agreeing to start or paying for any work, you should also obtain a detailed, written estimate of the work to be done and the schedule for doing it from the contractor, and do not proceed without one. While indoor testing can be helpful in some circumstances, it is important to know that there are no laboratory tests that can determine if your property is “safe” and all lab results must be evaluated in context with environmental conditions in and around your property. It is best to avoid contractors who fail to provide specific cost and schedule details in the contract.

As you reoccupy your homes, continue to monitor your health and the health of your family. Symptoms like coughing, eye irritation, or headaches could be linked to lingering contaminants.

Individuals, such as children, the elderly, or those with respiratory conditions, should take extra precautions or avoid reentering the home until it has been cleaned. And everyone should avoid contact with outdoor areas that have not been cleaned.

Public health has more detailed information on sensible precautions on our wildfire website, which you can find at publichealth.lacoungy.gov and you can speak with an environmental health specialist if you call 626-430-9821.

Do Not Drink/Do Not Boil Notices may be issued by water districts in areas served by potentially impacted facilities to protect the health of customers. For information about water safety in your community, please check with your local water district or visit LACDPH Fire Safety and Health Information for the latest notices.

Find your water service provider.

Residents in areas that remain under Do Not Drink/Do Not Boil Notices are advised to not drink or cook with tap water. Bottled water should be used for all drinking (including baby formula and juice), brushing teeth, washing dishes, making ice and food preparation until further notice. This also applies to pets and domestic animals.

Do NOT try to treat the water yourself. Boiling, freezing, filtering, adding chlorine or other disinfectants, or letting water stand will not make the water safe.

Water may be contaminated with chemicals that cannot be removed by end users. When pressure drops very low, the system can suck in contaminants from burned structures and equipment and spread them through the system. Among such contaminants are benzene and other VOCs that cannot be removed by disinfectants such as bleach or by common household filter systems. Boiling contaminated water would vaporize those chemicals into the air you breathe.

• Wildlife displaced by wildfire activity may enter your property or home. Places where there is trash or debris can attract wild animals.
• Keep garbage in rodent-proof containers that are tightly covered to avoid attracting animals.
• Do not leave pet food outdoors.
• Check for areas where rats and wild animals can sleep, hide, or find food. If possible, seal these areas.
• Protect yourself by wearing gloves and a mask when cleaning these areas. Wash your hands when you’re finished.

The safety of food may be a problem if the power outage lasted for a long period of time. If you experience a power outage or find that your kitchen has ash, soot, dust, and other airborne particles, avoid food borne illness by following these recommendations:

• Any food or drink products with an off odor or signs of spoilage should be thrown away. Best practice is: “When in doubt, throw it out.”
• Generally, food in the refrigerator is safe if the power was out for no more than 4 hours and the refrigerator and freezer doors were kept closed. Keeping the doors to the refrigerator and freezer closed helps maintain the coldest temperatures. If a power outage lasts more than four hours or the refrigerator door was not kept shut, it is best to throw away perishable food items such as meat, dairy products and eggs. Items that have thawed in the freezer should be thrown away.
• Do not re-freeze thawed food. All other food items should be inspected to ensure safety.
• Plastic bottles with liquid (water, etc.) that have been covered in ash should be thrown away. It is not enough to rinse off the bottle as these particles contaminate the caps, making them very difficult to decontaminate.
• Food that has not been stored in waterproof or airtight containers and has been covered with ash should be thrown away. This includes products that have been stored in cardboard or other soft packaging.
• Food stored in sealed, previously unopened glass or metal cans or jars, such as baby food, should be safe for use. Clean before opening and transfer the contents to another container before eating.
• Throw food away in trash bags and seal tightly before placing in the trash can. Double bagging is recommended to prevent fly breeding.

If you notice signs of significant soot, smoke residue, or odors in your home, it’s important to assess whether professional cleaning is necessary.

See the LA County Public Health website for guidance.

Ash clean-up in areas without fire damage

• Ash, soot, dust, and other airborne particles may have been deposited inside and outside of homes and businesses. Ash from wildfires is relatively non-toxic but can irritate skin, eyes, nose, and throat.
• Ash in air may trigger asthmatic attacks in people who already have asthma.
• Ash, dust and debris (particularly from burned buildings) may contain toxic and cancer-causing chemicals, including asbestos, arsenic, and lead.
• Do not let children play in or with items covered by ash.
• To avoid skin contact, wear household dishwashing gloves, a long-sleeved shirt and long pants during clean up. If ash does get on your skin, wash off with warm water and soap as soon as possible.
• If handling broken material (glass, metals, wood, etc.) wear gloves (leather or Kevlar) that protect against cuts, abrasions and punctures .
• A disposable N-95 mask or better can be worn during clean-up to avoid breathing in ash and other airborne particles. However, they do not protect from gases. They can be purchased from a home/hardware store. N-95 masks must be properly fitted, with no gaps around the edges. An improperly fitted mask is the same as wearing no mask at all.
• Try not to get ash into the air. Do not use leaf blowers or other actions that will put ash into the air. Gentle sweeping of indoor and outdoor surfaces, followed by wet mopping, is the best way to clean an area with ash. A solution of bleach and water may be used to disinfect an area, if desired. Read the label on the container for proper use.
• Wear safety goggles (not safety glasses) if clean-up may cause ash in the air and if using chemical cleaning solutions, to prevent splashing into the eyes.

• Wear safety shoes or sturdy close-toed, high-ankle leather shoes if debris (broken glass, metal, wood, etc.) is in the area that is being cleaned.
• Shop vacuums and regular household vacuum cleaners are not recommended to clean up ash. These vacuums do not filter out small particles, and can do more harm by blowing particles into the air where they can be breathed in.
• HEPA-filter vacuums can filter out small particles and can be used.
• Ash may be thrown away in the regular trash by placing it in a plastic trash bag first; this will prevent the ash from becoming airborne and blowing away as the trash can is emptied.
• Shower regularly throughout the day when cleaning in and out of areas with ash.