Bruce MacDonald<p>“You really want to know: ‘What’s in the air, what’s in the water, what’s in the ash that blew into my kitchen cabinet? Do I let my dog outside?’” she said. “All these questions were coming up and we thought, ‘We really need to serve the community.’” Indeed, while the initial findings will be focused on firefighters’ exposure, the team is also looking into residents’ exposure to heavy metals and chemicals.<br><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-03-27/palisades-eaton-firefighters-high-levels-of-mercury-and-lead" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">latimes.com/california/story/2</span><span class="invisible">025-03-27/palisades-eaton-firefighters-high-levels-of-mercury-and-lead</span></a></p><p><a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/toxins" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>toxins</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/PublicHealth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PublicHealth</span></a> <a href="https://hachyderm.io/tags/LAFires" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LAFires</span></a></p>
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A song for the people displaced by the LA fires. https://caseymaddren.bandcamp.com/track/i-just-wanna-get-back-home #LAFires #LARecovery #LAWildfires #LosAngeles #music #song
Altadena, 7 Weeks Later
It's been seven weeks since the wildfires in Altadena destroyed over 10,000 structures.
Unless you live there or close to LA, I doubt you think about it much.
Not so for the people who used to live there (or who still have a home but can
SoCal Fire Fund Raises Over $5.9 Million For Those Impacted by Southern California Wildfires
#Variety #News #LAFires
https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/socal-fire-fund-5-9-million-1236321680/
Variety · SoCal Fire Fund Raises Over $5.9 Million For Wildfire Relief
Neat: OIL BEACH is listed here as one of "the best books that explain why wildfires will continue to burn California" 
https://shepherd.com/best-books/why-wildfires-will-continue-to-burn-california
'… Never seen the mountain
so brown, laid bare and yellow, a soft
bellied cat…'
Jessica Abughattas responds to last month's #LAFires with the #poem Beautiful Altadena:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/jessica-abughattass-beautiful-altadena
#books #reading #writing #poetry #ClimateCrisis #climate #bookstodon @bookstodon
Los Angeles Review of Books · Jessica Abughattas’s “Beautiful Altadena” | Los Angeles Review of BooksIn the wake of January’s devastating fires around Los Angeles, LARB presents a new poem from Jessica Abughattas.
"Following almost every major fire in the past 20 years, after removing ash, rubble and up to 6in of soil, agencies have sought sampling to ensure the next layer of soil is safe. This time, the army corps of engineers says the process hasn’t been authorized, and that simply removing 6in of topsoil is adequate" #LAFires https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/18/la-fire-cleanup-beach-will-rogers-epa
The Guardian · ‘An unprecedented situation’: EPA plan for LA wildfire cleanup stirs protests over toxic dangers
The 2025 #LAfires destroyed 16,000 structures, displacing thousands. A professor who studies managing risk in the face of climate change shares solutions for protecting low- and moderate-income residents. #climatechange #housingcosts #resilience https://theconversation.com/how-california-can-rebuild-safer-more-resilient-cities-after-wildfires-without-pricing-out-workers-247680
In the summer of 1956, 15-year-old Kathy Kohner Zuckerman learned to surf, and she recorded her experiences of riding waves and the people she met in a diary. Everyone had a nickname — Tubesteak, Lord Blears, Thrifty Phil — and Kathy wanted one too. Soon, she became Gidget, a portmanteau of "girl" and "midget." Her story went on to become a series of novels, a movie starring Sandra Dee, an ABC series starring Sally Field, a stage musical co-written by Francis Ford Coppola, and more. And, Defector's David Davis argues, it also was an inflection point in surf culture, turning it from "a sleepy pastime to a billion-dollar mainstream commodity." Kohner Zuckerman dipped out of the limelight in the 1960s before re-embracing it over the past couple of decades. Davis spoke to her about her early experiences, her unique place in American culture, her life as Gidget and beyond, and what she saved from the LA fires that razed her home of 60 years.
flip.it · Gidget The Survivor | DefectorKathy Kohner Zuckerman was at home in the Pacific Palisades, her husband Marvin working on the computer in his office, when a neighbor came pounding on their front door. “Kathy, get out! Get out now!” It was mid-morning on Jan. 7, and Kathy could see—and smell—the black smoke up in the hills above the home […]
Without #FEMA, smaller and less wealthy states would likely struggle to respond effectively to disasters. A #publichealth professor looks at why getting rid of FEMA would be a bad idea https://theconversation.com/if-fema-didnt-exist-could-states-handle-the-disaster-response-alone-248758 #climatechange #hurricanes #LAFires
The ConversationIf FEMA didn’t exist, could states handle the disaster response alone?FEMA pools national resources to help states quickly manage disasters. Without that federal support, each state would be left to build its own expensive response capabilities.