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Yahoo!Investigators looking into what started the Jesusita Fire have asked the public for any information about activities that occurred on or near the Jesusita and Tunnel hiking trails on Monday, May 4, and Tuesday, May 5. Anyone with relevant information is urged to call the investigators at (805) 686-5074 or email them at sbctip@sbcfire.com.
Ash Cleanup Tips
The Office of Emergency Services has released tips that may help citizens returning to their homes as they attempt to clean up all the ash that has fallen in the past few days.
Foremost, people are still being asked to conserve water, so in lieu of hosing surfaces down, they should just sweep the ash into landscaped areas or put it in the trash. Do not deposit the ash into gutters or storm drains, as doing so could taint the area water supply.
When sweeping up ash, people should wear protective face masks in order to protect their own health.
Other Tips:
- Wash and disinfect all interior walls and hard surfaces with mild soap or other appropriate cleaning solutions or products, and rinse thoroughly. Don't forget inside cabinets, drawers, and closets.
- Launder or dry clean all clothing.
- Wash, dust, or otherwise clean all household items, including knickknacks.
- Disinfect and deodorize all carpets, window coverings, upholstered furniture and mattresses with steam or other appropriate equipment.
- Upholstery, fabric window treatments, etc. can be spray-treated with deodorizing products available at most supermarkets, but do not use odor-masking sprays.
- Have heating, ventilating and air-conditioning units and all ductwork professionally cleaned to remove soot, ash and smoke residue. Change filters when you first return to the premises and at least once a month for the first year.
- If aerial fire retardant or firefighting foam residue is present on the house and/or automobiles, use a mild detergent and brushes to scrub and dilute the dried residue and flush it from the surfaces; rinse with clean water. A follow-up with pressure washing may be beneficial but will not replace scrubbing to remove the residue.
- Ash and soot on the ground and vegetation in the vicinity will continue to generate smoke odors and airborne particles when disturbed by air movement. Until the ash and soot are diluted and absorbed by the environment, indoor mechanical air filtration may help minimize the uncomfortable and potentially health-threatening impact of these pollutants.
Westmont News
Westmont College announced this afternoon that due to the closure of the campus, Westmont’s “Mayterm” — summer classes that run through June 12 — will begin on May 12 at a yet-to-be-determined off-campus location. The term was originally scheduled to begin on Monday, May 11.
Westmont also announced that though the entire campus was successfully evacuated on Friday, about 345 students still have items remaining in their campus rooms, including several members of the orchestra that is scheduled to leave for an international trip on Monday.
Double-clicking on any word or phrase in this story will open a reference window with definitions and links to other reference material.
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Ummm, just a little baffled by these cleaning directions.
Why would you need to use disinfectant on ash?
As in, "Wash and disinfect all interior walls" and "Disinfect and deodorize all carpets, window coverings,".
Sure getting the smell out as well as the dusty ash sounds like a good idea but I can't see justifying a disinfectant. This isn't the Swine Flu, this is a fire.
Any input from an editor on this one?
Other than this article, I really appreciate the reporting done by the Indy, it was great to have frequent updates:)
VoiceOReason (anonymous profile)
May 9, 2009 at 8:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ash from a wildland fire contains many pollutants, and potentially harmful substance, often in trace amounts but still to be wary of. Also burned insulation, power lines, telephone poles, contruction materials from houses, indeed just about anything that is burned released differing kinds of ash and all of it can be a health hazzard.
So it is indeed wise to be caution and clean carefully.
CGerlach (anonymous profile)
May 9, 2009 at 11:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you for clearing up things CGerlach. You are right and thank you to the Indy too- I'm very glad they posted this since it is pretty clear not everyone understood the importance of being careful with this ash. Think of all the chemicals that are in home building materials as well as the contents in the home!
miklong04 (anonymous profile)
May 9, 2009 at 11:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I suppose these cleaning instructions are aimed primarily at dwellings that got a close-up, heavy dose of smoke and ash, but there are probably paranoid germophobe types living in places that didn't get much smoke or ash but who are now scrubbing the heck out of everything because of this article. :-)
I agree with VoiceOReason--The disinfecting advice does seem odd--how could there be live germs in smoke and soot when that stuff was just in a hot fire, which would surely have killed everything?
andyinsb (anonymous profile)
May 10, 2009 at 12:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I recently found your website and am sorry I didn't know about it early on.....the best reporting anywhere on the fires. CNN should take some lessons from independent.com because their reporting was totally useless. Thanks for excellent reporting and keeping us up-to-date.
gammy (anonymous profile)
May 10, 2009 at 7:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
question about ashes: I thought they would be OK for plants, like fertilizer, and you mention sweeping them into landscape. But if they are full of toxics, that doesn't seem right. A few miles downwind from foothills, how toxic are the ashes?
lauriek (anonymous profile)
May 10, 2009 at 8:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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