Alright, so let me break it down for you. Picture this, two Altadena residents — Francois Tissot, who’s like a super smart Caltech professor, and Jane Potelle, a total environmental warrior — had to book it out of there when the Eaton fire started blazing. This fire wasn’t messing around, torching homes left and right and spewing all kinds of nasty stuff like lead, asbestos, and benzene into the air. It was like a toxic tornado ripping through town.

Now, fast forward a bit, and people start trickling back to their homes, thinking they’re in the clear. But guess what? These houses were hiding some seriously sketchy stuff. Tissot and Potelle took matters into their own hands — they tested some homes and found lead levels that were off the charts, like way higher than what the EPA says is safe. And here’s the kicker — this toxic mess was spread not just in the burn area but miles away too.

Tissot was all fired up, talking about how kids exposed to lead could have their brainpower seriously messed up. I mean, imagine a whole generation of little ones getting hit with this stuff. It’s a disaster waiting to happen, in his opinion. Potelle wasn’t having it either. She started a whole grassroots thing with other residents to test homes and spread the word about the contamination. They found lead in every single home they tested, which is pretty alarming if you ask me.

But here’s the thing — the government was dragging its feet on this whole situation. Potelle was running around town trying to get answers, feeling like no one was looking out for them. It was a mess. And Tissot, well, he’s out here testing samples in his lab, trying to figure out just how bad the situation really is. The guy even set up a webinar to share his findings with the community. And let me tell you, people were all over that, begging him to test their homes too.

So, these two groups — Tissot’s team and Potelle’s crew — are on a mission now. They want to make sure people know the risks and push the leaders to step up and do something about it. They’re not messing around. They want better policies, more testing, and a plan to clean up this toxic mess once and for all.

In my opinion, it’s time for everyone to wake up and smell the smoke. These residents are fighting for their homes, their health, and their future. And honestly, I’m rooting for them every step of the way. It’s time to clean up this mess and make sure it never happens again.