When Altadena’s air pollution monitors burned up in the Eaton fire, Caltech and Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists installed a network of 25 new ones that measure dust and ash particles for public consumption.

This independent work was something government agencies could not do — providing continuous, local data for the public to determine how safe was the air for families moving back to intact homes, as well as those considering rebuilding homes that were lost in the fire.

This is one example of the unique, abundant resources of Southern California being used to augment efforts led by federal, state and local governments for recovery from the Eaton and Palisades fires of Jan. 7-8.

‘It’s an LA thing’

Help from Caltech, JPL, UCLA, USC and Loyola Marymount University, plus contributions from Hollywood celebrities, are part of the area’s “brain gain” and cash infusion, which could combine to speed up recovery within the devastated fire zones of Altadena, Pasadena and Pacific Palisades.

“It is an L.A. thing,” said Fernando Guerra, professor of political science and Chicano-Latino studies at Loyola Marymount University, who also is director of LMU-based StudyLA. “There are few other places in America or in the world where you have these non-governmental resources.”

He said the concentration of top-notch research academic institutions is unique to Southern California, especially those who focus on air pollution, a very L.A. problem.

“We have an incredible higher-education infrastructure. I can ideally say that all those elements are present in Los Angeles County and very few urban areas have this,” he said, adding that this resource has helped provide more information and help for fire victims.

“We are taking the laboratory out of the campuses and into the community,” Guerra said.

L.A. encourages innovation

Major U.S. cities such as New York and Boston have academic resources, he said. But these cities also have exercised strong, unilateral government control during a disaster. For example, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was in charge after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Guerra sees that as a bulwark against allowing other efforts. In Southern California, the fires have put in motion L.A.’s Mayor Karen Bass and the L.A. City Council. He said Bass is not as strong as East Coast mayors because she must earn approval from the City Council. And then there are the five LA County supervisors, who wield much power, as well as leaders in other cities. All have roles to play in a disaster.

The spread of local leaders actually opens the door to non-government entities to help out, he said. The de-centralization of power in L.A. County is actually a good thing. “It creates the opportunity for greater intervention,” Guerra explained.

In the air monitors example, Guerra said Caltech was able to move faster than the California Air Resources Board or the South Coast Air Quality Management District because the university has less bureaucracy than government agencies and can find funding faster.

He said academic institutions can respond almost immediately, drop what its doing and engage in the new, more pertinent research. Caltech called property owners and got permission to place new rooftop air sensors in and around the Altadena fire areas and installed the monitors in about a month’s time.

Caltech went to its donors and raised $270,000 in a few days to support environmental testing of the air, soils and streams after the fires, said John Eiler, the Robert P. Sharp professor of geology and geo-chemistry and Ted and Ginger Jenkins leadership chair of the division of geological and planetary sciences.

It was personal

Why did Caltech do this?

First, it is located just a few miles from the southern boundary of the Eaton fire. “Many of the individuals who were involved in research done by the geology division were directly affected by the fires — and they lost homes and multiple people leading research were displaced,” Eiler said.

He said the prestigious university is a leader in researching air pollution and lead in paint, two issues residents were concerned about after the fires. Many homes in Altadena that burned had lead paint on their walls because they were built in the 1970s.

“It aligns with our values. We think of our research endeavors as a public service. It motivates us. We think of this as something that has value to society,” Eiler said.

Filling in the gaps

Caltech scientists studied the air in real time on the days and nights of the Eaton fire — something no governmental environmental agency did. Lead levels on Jan. 9 on average were 100 times higher than the typical range, while chlorine was 40 times higher at the peak, reported Haroula Baliaka, a graduate student in environmental science and engineering at Caltech who analyzed the data.

Caltech professor of geochemistry Francois Tissot tested the soot and dust that accumulated on the inside window sills of four Caltech buildings in Pasadena a few miles south of the Eaton fire. Dust samples contained more lead and cadmium, another metal, than ash samples. The indoor dust had elevated levels of lead but many of the samples tested found lead at or below EPA acceptable levels.

Tissot later tested dust from 50 homes and gave instructions on how to safely clean dust from inside and outside window sills to the public.

Caltech also did remote testing of debris flows in the San Gabriel Mountains after rain storms. The Caltech data predicted where debris would flow and the data was used by state environmental agencies to give warnings of where and when debris flows would become a problem, Eiler said.

Recently, Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, publicized a group of universities that started CAP.LA, and began doing what the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would not do — test soils for toxic substances on the 16,000 destroyed properties in both the Palisades and Eaton fires. For those who signed up, the Army Corps cleared six inches of soil — no more. When residents demanded further, deeper testing to ensure safety, the government agencies said it was unnecessary.

So CAP.LA was formed. The project involved soil testing on 1,200 properties, sometimes 10 inches or 12 inches deep and researcher gave the results to the property owners. The group formed in a few days bringing in UCLA, LMU, and Purdue University. The L.A.-based R & S Kayne Foundation, a philanthropic group, put up $1 million for CAP.LA’s work.

L.A. abundance

Steve Crowder is mayor of Paradise in Northern California. He took on the role in 2018, two days before a wildfire tore through the town burning more than 153,000 acres, destroying 13,500 homes and killing 85 people. Crowder’s home was destroyed.

His daughter, who lives in Altadena, lost her home in the Eaton fire.

After 6 1/2 years, his town is about 35% rebuilt.

“We don’t seem to have the resources that Southern California does,” he said during an interview on May 1.

The only university that helped was Cal State Chico, which he said were not heavily involved in recovery, he said. “Nothing like what is happening in Southern California.”

Former NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who played for UC Berkeley’s Cal Golden Bears and grew up in nearby Chico, donated about $3 million, Crowder said.

The North Valley Community Foundation collected $60 million. Some of that went to help residents with mental health issues, Crowder said. The organization gave $2 million to pay down building permits, he said.

The celebrity factor

In Southern California, several celebrities have been active.

Actor Sean Penn, who formed the Community Organized Relief Effort or CORE with Ann Lee, gave about $1 million in cash at the Red Cross center in Pasadena to people displaced. “Cash is a necessary freedom to get by day-by-day,” Penn told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in a televised interview.

CORE, with donations from philanthropist Stephen J. Cloobeck, worked with the Rubio Canon Land & Water Association, a local water utility, to clean out reservoirs filled with debris in Altadena, helping to restore potable drinking water.

The Tom Petty Estate provided relief to the tune of $15,000 per person for help rebuilding their homes, totaling $100,000, the estate announced. The late rock star’s estate gave $15,000 to a children’s music teacher and piano instructor Jeanina Quizada, 63. who lost her home and studio in Altadena.

Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media Impact charity and also GoFundMe.org gave up to $25,000 to 50 women-owned businesses impacted by the fires. The reality TV star, actress and singer said: “These women are the backbone of their communities. We are not just helping them rebuild — we’re investing in their futures, their families and their neighborhoods.”

One of those $25,000 grants went to the owners of the beloved Altadena restaurant, The Little Red Hen Coffee Shop, destroyed in the fire.

The Pasadena Women’s Business Center will also receive $25,000 from Hilton’s group to provide no-cost advising to local business owners.

Crowder, who was in Washington D.C. on May 5 trying to drum up dollars to help his town build a sewer system, only dreamed of celebrity dollars rolling in — or any dollars to help with the town’s rebuilding.

“I told your leaders I don’t care who offers to provide you help, you take it. We did not have that. Nothing like what you are seeing down there,” he said.