California Smoke Soot and Ash Claims—A Cause for Concern

Journalist Jack Healy of the New York Times wrote an article, Their Homes Are Intact, but the Fire Damage Inside Is Unbearable. Healy accompanied wildfire victims back to their homes after the event. In one case, he noted the following:

As soon as an evacuation order was lifted in her neighborhood, Arlynn Page raced back to her charred street in Altadena, Calif., to see what was left of her hillside home. The two houses next door were rubble, but hers was unscathed.

Then she went inside. A stinging haze hung in the living room. Her mattresses, rugs and couches reeked like a chemical campfire. Ms. Page, 55, flung open the windows and doors to let in the breezy afternoon air, but she was still choking.

‘I have such a headache,’ she said through a mask. ‘There’s so much smoke.’

This was the vexing reality that thousands of displaced people across Los Angeles faced, as they were allowed back home this weekend for the first time since fleeing the firestorms. Their homes had escaped the annihilation that burned 12,000 other structures, but were nonetheless filled with ash and smoke damage.

As waves of residents return to their homes in the coming weeks, many more people are likely to encounter similar surprises. Wildfires not only burn down structures, but emit smoke, ash and heat that suburban homes are rarely built to withstand.

His conclusion is accurate. Most insurance companies know the need for extensive remediation of smoke, soot, and ash from fire and have trained their adjusters accordingly. Most do not equal all. Many temporary catastrophe adjusters may never have experienced this type of loss and may never have been trained on the protocols required to remediate such damaged structures.

Jon Bukowski wrote an excellent article on this topic three years ago in Marshall Wildfire Policyholders Continue to Experience Difficulty with Insurance Companies to Evaluate Full Extent of Damage from Smoke, Ash, and Soot:

Nearly two months after the Marshall Wildfire, news stories and articles continue to express the frustrations and difficulties Marshall Wildfire policyholders are experiencing with partial losses from smoke, ash, and soot where insurers will not fully agree to help investigate and evaluate the extent of damage. Colorado Division of Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway has held several town hall meetings where Marshall Wildfire policyholders continue to echo frustrations of smoke, ash, and soot damage to their homes and personal property.

…

One of the sneakiest and most hazardous effects of a wildfire is the concealed or not so obvious effects of smoke, soot, and ash damage. Smoke is a complex mixture of different gases and particles, which results from the incomplete combustion of various materials that burn during a fire event. Soot is the result of deposits of tiny particles produced by the incomplete combustion of the smoke materials. Typically, soot is representative of what has burned. Soot can also include a number of toxic materials. These considerations further underscore the importance that partial smoke, soot, and ash losses related to the Marshall Wildfire be treated as hazardous areas.

It is also important to understand that soot is not simply a form of dirt that needs to be removed from an article or wall but damage requiring professional cleaning equipment and techniques to ensure that nothing is excluded. The tiny particles can also travel through any pipeline or wiring crevice, air ducts and vents, HVAC system, and into insulation….

I noted how insurance industry educator John Putman has warned about these issues in Unseen Smoke and Visual Ash Dangers from Wildfires. We have warned that After A Fire, You May Need An Industrial Hygienist:

The health hazards that may result from soot are just too significant to ignore. According to the National Cancer Institute, ‘soot is a byproduct of the incomplete burning of organic (carbon-containing) materials, such as wood, fuel oil, plastics, and household refuse. The fine black or brown powder that makes up soot may contain a number of carcinogens, including arsenic, cadmium, and chromium.’ If the smoke and soot are not properly remedied, they could result in personal consequences as severe as skin, lung, esophageal, and bladder cancer. Smoke and soot travels and will penetrate areas of your property not visible to the naked eye, potentially causing damage to insulation, electrical wiring, HVAC, and other parts of your house. Not only do the hidden smoke and soot present a health and safety risk, but they can also present the opportunity for early failure of the electrical and mechanical components of your property. As reported to State Farm by the Norman’s, their treadmill began failing after the soot and smoke intrusion into their home. For those reasons, if your insurance company does not retain an industrial hygienist as a part of their adjustment of your fire claim, ask why not. Retaining an industrial hygienist to investigate the full extent of smoke and soot damage after a fire loss is not a novel concept, and it could mean the difference between the continued health of yourself and your property.

Healy’s article has a similar message and warning:

‘All of those materials tend to soak up a lot of the gases, and then over the next month they’re going to release it back,’ said Paul Wennberg, a professor of environmental science and engineering at the California Institute of Technology.

Dr. Wennberg said that a particulate sampling device about 20 miles south of the Eaton fire had detected high levels of toxins, including lead, chlorine and bromine in the air. Ninety percent of the homes in the Altadena were built more than a half-century ago, when lead paint and asbestos were still used in home construction.

The fires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades consumed not only trees, brush and timber from people’s homes but also lead acid car batteries, plastic pipes, synthetic furniture, paint and untold other potential sources of contamination.

Our experience is that some insurance companies are much more vigilant and concerned about ensuring the structure and contents are safe than others. All policyholders who are in the vicinity and suffer from smoke damage should have an environmental hygienist test for the presence of toxic residue caused by the fires.

Thought For The Day

“Prevention is the best remedy.”
—Henry de Bracton