Frustrated families: Andrew Ferrone is the parent of two children who attend Canyon Charter Elementary School, a school in Santa Monica that remained closed as of Friday. The risk: The smoke and ash from wildfires creates dangerous air quality, especially for sensitive groups that include children and pregnant people. Tiny particles can get into the lungs and cause health issues ranging from bronchitis to cancer.
The fires can also release chemicals from plastics, lead, asbestos and other toxic substances. Best practices: All ash should be removed before students return to campus. Guidelines for cleaning include wiping down surfaces with mild detergents and vacuuming with machines equipped with high efficiency particulate air HEPA filters. Read on While some schools in or near wildfire evacuation zones have reopened , others are undergoing a more extensive remediation process.
There are no state laws or regulations that mandate specific cleaning or testing before schools located near wildfires can reopen. Instead, schools must interpret guidance from multiple local, state and federal agencies β and that information has not reached all parents.
LAist reviewed statements from these agencies and guidance from state and federal agencies, as well as interviewed an industrial hygienist to understand the steps a district may take to safely reopen after the initial danger from the fires has passed, and other things families should know about the cleaning process.
The smoke and ash from wildfires creates dangerous air quality, especially for sensitive groups that include children and pregnant people. The fires propel tiny particles, called PM2. Those particles can get into the lungs and cause health issues ranging from bronchitis to cancer. Each school's situation is unique. Here are some questions to ask your principal, school and district officials as campuses plan to reopen. Industrial hygienist Michelle Rosales said the level of cleaning, testing and restoration needed depends on how severely the campus was affected.
