The final evacuation order was lifted completely, almost six months after the wildfires destroyed Pallisad in the Pacific, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Some coastal Los Angeles neighborhoods remained under evacuation orders due to dangerous downwires, potentially explosive lithium-ion batteries and toxic wildfire debris, according to fire department spokesman Lyndsey Lantz.
The Army, the main body that oversees wildfire cleanup, oversees federal contractors in removing wreckage from more than 3,200 properties, reducing some of those concerns.
“Our concerns have diminished since much of the wreckage was removed,” Landz said.
Only residents and contractors were able to return previously to parts of the Pacific Pallisard, which remained under the evacuation order. Authorities had established vehicle checkpoints in part to keep the public away from these prolonged dangers.
However, as the final evacuation order is fully lifted, the public will be allowed to access the area. Los Angeles police are expected to remain present in their neighborhoods to drive away potential burglars and stop property crimes.
People will be allowed to return to communities affected by the fire, but public safety and health officials have asked them to take caution, including wearing N-95 masks to prevent exposure to toxic dust.
As federal disaster agencies decided not to pay for soil testing to ensure there was no heavy contamination left, elected officials and environmental researchers raised serious concerns about the possibility of prolonged soil contamination.
Separately from the soil sampling project by Los Angeles Times journalists, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health discovered lead and arsenic contamination exceeded standards for California residential properties in properties already cleaned by federal contractors.
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