The Greater Los Angeles wildfires are mostly contained for the moment, but CNA analysis of previous fire disasters suggests that a surprisingly difficult and potentially hazardous effort lies ahead: debris removal. Previous CNA support of federal and state wildfire after-action reviews found that debris removal missions are susceptible to challenges in policy and planning, operations coordination among stakeholders, cultural and environmental preservation, public messaging, and responding in urban environments. Reviewing these lessons learned is vital for developing solutions for survivors.
Fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds and dry conditions, the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst fires have damaged or destroyed more than 13,000 structures. Insurance assessments from J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo forecast an insured loss of over $20 billion, which would make the LA wildfires the costliest wildfire event in US history.
While emergency response operations in LA continue to provide lifesaving assistance to survivors, Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order calling for the expedited procurement of key debris removal resources to hasten the return of survivors to their homes. Additionally, Gov. Newsom has directed the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to work with Federal Emergency Management Agency to assign and fund trained teams from the US Environmental Protection Agency to safely remove and dispose of hazardous debris from fire-damaged structures as soon as it is safe to enter the affected areas. To date, FEMA has allocated $100 million to the EPA to support removing hazardous debris.
The Challenges of Wildfire Debris Removal
Compared to earthquakes or hurricanes, wildfires create a unique set of challenges that require careful consideration when removing debris from a site. In addition to traditional disaster debris challenges such as HAZMAT leaks, downed trees, and destroyed infrastructure, wildfires can expose responders and survivors to numerous carcinogenic toxins and explosive hazards. Inhaling ash and the residue from burning common residential materials such as arsenic, lead, mercury, asbestos, and household chemicals can be toxic to humans. Some materials are explosive if not properly disposed of. Furthermore, scorched land is susceptible to wildfire debris runoff, washing hazardous debris into reservoirs and filtration systems, reducing water quality. To clean sites as safely and efficiently as possible, jurisdictions traditionally use a phased approach. Phase 1 leverages hazardous material experts to remove visible hazardous waste, while Phase 2 uses contractors and local utility departments to remove any remaining ash and debris from a site.
In recent years, CNA has led many state and federal wildfire after-action reviews that examine the unique circumstances jurisdictions faced in removing debris. As a result, we can outline common challenges and lessons learned, many of which are relevant to LA’s clean-up.
Policy and Planning. Due to the complex phased approach needed to safely remove wildfire debris, previous CNA after-action reviews have found that pre-disaster planning and policy guidance are vital for efficient debris removal. Jurisdictions that lacked a wildfire debris management plan outlining activation triggers, key stakeholders, their authorities, and funding mechanisms, were forced to develop mission parameters while response teams were in the field. In such jurisdictions, CNA has observed significant operational and funding delays between responders and elected officials that resulted in increased confusion and frustration, though they eventually completed site cleanups. In addition, FEMA guidance on debris removal policy is geared toward hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes—and is not well aligned to wildfires. This has caused additional state and local stakeholder confusion about what debris removal activities are eligible for reimbursement under the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) Category A Program.
Operations Coordination Among Stakeholders. Many emergency response agencies supporting the LA wildfires have significant debris management experience, but individual agency experience may not be enough. CNA has found that coordination challenges between response stakeholders can hinder efficient recovery efforts. In the response to two recent wildfires, CNA after-action reviews found that the jurisdictions opted to create a debris task force to develop a unified strategic effort among federal, state, and local partners. While stakeholders viewed the existence of debris task forces as positive, interagency coordination challenges remained in incident command system coordination structures, partner resource expectations, data-sharing, and coordination with debris removal partners. These challenges resulted in gaps in situational awareness and duplication of effort. Additionally, stakeholders struggled to rapidly communicate changing information in the field to meet the reporting requirements of federal debris removal reimbursement programs such as the Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief Program and FEMA PA Category A Program.
Coordination with elected officials can also be a challenge for debris removal missions. Previous after-action reviews noted that insufficient communication of debris removal timelines and funding needs often resulted in political pressure to achieve unrealistic site cleaning goals and delays in funding appropriation approvals.
Cultural and Environmental Preservation. Cultural resources affected by fires are subject to special legal protections and processes, creating another cleanup challenge. The LA wildfires damaged or destroyed at least five historical properties, one cemetery, one historical house of worship, and one museum. The National Historic Preservation Act requires responders to develop planning mechanisms and collaborate with cultural preservation experts to safely clean sites. While previous after-action reviews found positive results from robust integration of cultural planning and preservation experts, developing site-specific debris removal plans slowed recovery timelines.
Similar legal protections for natural resources have also caused unique challenges for wildfire debris removal missions. While we have observed successful collaboration between the EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers in removing debris with minimal impact on the environment after some disasters, jurisdictions have had to invest considerable time, resources, and coordination with stakeholders in order to prevent debris runoff, manage air quality, and contain HAZMAT debris. In one instance, CNA researchers found significant public criticism of a temporary debris storage site due to fears of hazardous debris runoff poisoning the local water ecosystem. To alleviate public and environmental concerns, responders had to move debris to a permanent landfill far from populated areas.
Public Messaging. The LA County Office of Emergency Management came under criticism for its messaging when it issued erroneous evacuation alerts. But early in the debris removal mission it has worked to communicate the dangers of cleaning debris before county inspection, providing survivors with vital situational awareness. Previous CNA analysis of disaster zones has highlighted the importance of clear, multi-lingual messaging about debris removal progress and processes to limit public confusion and rumors. For example, unclear messaging in one jurisdiction led to scam contractors convincing homeowners to pay for debris removal services despite it being a free governmental service. Gaps in the messaging about the right-of-entry form has created the environment for rumors to spread that the government was using the form to steal survivor properties, slowing the process of obtaining permission from survivors for government agencies to enter private property to remove debris. Positive messaging about successes in ongoing debris removal and mission transparency are key best practices to minimize rumors and gain public trust and cooperation.
Urban Environments. As urban developments continue to expand into wildfire risk areas—the wildland-urban interface—responders face new, complex challenges in debris removal. The Greater Los Angeles area has the advantages of robust road infrastructure, a large local workforce, and access to a large fleet of dump trucks for debris removal, but the debris quantities are projected to be much greater than in most wildfire disasters. With larger homes creating up to 15 truckloads of debris, hazardous waste clean-up alone could take three to six months, while non-hazardous debris could take several additional months. And Gov. Newsom has warned that electric vehicle batteries and home charging stations complicate LA’s debris removal mission. LA wildfire responders are treating each EV battery as “unexploded ordnance” requiring precautions that can further extend cleanup timelines. California has more EVs than any other state—over a million.
California’s debris removal operation is an opportunity for elected officials, emergency responders, and the public nationwide to improve their awareness of the common challenges that hinder post-wildfire recovery efforts. Upon the conclusion of LA’s debris removal, federal, state, local, and private entities should reexamine best practices and lessons learned in planning, coordination, preservation, messaging, and urban operations. Out of the ashes of Los Angeles, researchers and leaders can further advance the nation’s understanding of how to aid recovery by efficiently and equitably executing large-scale wildfire debris removal missions.
