About CAP.LA
In the wake of the Eaton and Palisades Fires, disaster recovery experts from multiple universities have come together to expedite and empower household and business recovery decisions. Their efforts, as part of a data-informed civic action, will enable household members and business owners to be proactive recovery partners.
CAP.LA (Community Action Project LA) is funded by the R&S Kayne Foundation and includes researchers from Loyola Marymount University, UCLA, and Purdue University.
Soil Sampling
We are asking owners of properties near the Palisades and Eaton Fires for permission to collect soil and water samples in their yards, gardens, and/or pools to test for possible wildfire pollutants. There is NO cost to the homeowner for the sampling or testing. To enroll, please fill out this form:
The results will be provided to the homeowner once testing is completed (~1-2 weeks after samples are collected). Additionally results, grouped and mapped by neighborhood, will be available and updated regularly, but no names or specific addresses will be listed with the results. Researchers will then use the deidentified data in publications and presentations.
Your participation is voluntary, and you are free to decline to answer any question, although not answering certain questions may result in us not being able to collect a sample. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Brianne Gilbert, Managing Director at the Center for the Study of Los Angeles, at studyLA@lmu.edu. Completion of this enrollment form does not ensure a sample will be taken. We will do our best to collect samples from every requested location, however, resources are limited. Homeowners will be emailed if their property is selected and will be informed which day a sample will be taken a few days in advance. Our team is actively working to secure additional funding for more samples.
Pool Sampling
Hundreds of swimming pools are located within the burn perimeters of the recent Palisade and Eaton Fires. We have seen firsthand swimming pools are contaminated with fire debris, burned ash, dead animals, and potentially harmful pollutants. Furthermore, far more swimming pools outside the burn perimeters may have been polluted with ash and other debris if they receive runoff containing wildfire residues during the rainfalls after the wildfire event. Yet, limited guidance exists on how to safely handle the polluted water, partly because the ranges and concentrations of pollutants in the swimming pool directly or indirectly affected by wildfire and runoff have not been measured. No prior pool water testing study has been conducted after a fire. The goal of this study is to help pool owners and health officials understand the safety of pool water after a fire by measuring the concentration of heavy metals and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) in pool water and the debris deposited on the pool floor. If you have a pool on your property, please consider allowing us to sample it as well (same sign-up link as above).
Survey
Understanding Household Experiences to Enable a Faster and More Informed Recovery
Three survey activities are underway so that household experiences and concerns can be better addressed by officials and decision makers.
- Environmental Test Result Review Study. Some households have expressed frustration with the complexity of testing results received from contractors and other parties. Others have asked to better understand how their results compare to others. This study was initiated to allow households to provide their testing results to Purdue University where they will be reviewed and analyzed to better understand household environmental testing experiences. Nothing like this has been done before. Often households are left on their own. This study was created as a direct result of households asking for this help. Households who wish to participate can follow this link here: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eg338czfsedtZ7E. Results will be compiled, anonymized, and summarized once a critical number of reports are received.
- In-person Household Interviews of Experiences & Needs. This effort began shortly after the fire. Households that were selected for the participation were contacted by Professor Andrew Whelton at Purdue University. This effort focused on early household questions and challenges. Results are currently being compiled for reporting.
- Coming Soon - Online REBUILD Survey of Experience & Needs. In March/April 2025, an online survey will be rolled out entitled the REBUILD survey. This study was initiated in direct response to the overwhelming number of questions received by the researchers and preliminary findings of the in-person household interviews. Topics to be covered in the online survey are expected to include household impacts, property experiences and needs, challenges property owners are currently facing and those they anticipate facing, and perceived gaps in the responses that property owners receive from different sources. Topics may also include property cleanup, environmental exposures, testing, opinions, insurance and government agency interactions, and more. Survey results will help expedite ongoing recovery and serve as a model for future incidents since no such mechanism currently exists. Homeowners who wish to participate will give consent agreeing to share their data and their results will be anonymized and pooled with all responses. Responses will be separated into three or more groups, for example, the Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, and Adjacent to a burn zone. Results of the survey will be available after the data are collected. When this survey is available, information will be posted on this website.
Project Team
The project team consists of teams at Purdue University, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Purdue University, Loyola Marymount University (LMU), and the R&S Kayne Foundation.
Purdue University - Andrew Whelton and Caitlin Proctor
Andrew J. Whelton is a Professor of Civil, Construction, Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University and founder of the Center for Plumbing Safety. He has been called into some of the most significant U.S. wildfires and other disasters in recent history to provide public health and engineering support. His teams have assisted decision-makers, businesses, and households. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering, M.S. in Environmental Engineering, and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. His prior work experience includes the U.S. Army, NIST, and the private sector.
Caitlin Proctor is a Professor of Agricultural, Biological, Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. Her work covers drinking water holistically, although her emphasis is on microbiological issues like pathogens. She has helped in a variety of disasters to provide public health guidance, and often engages in community sampling efforts. She earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering, and M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Virginia Tech. She earned a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from ETH, Zurich in Switzerland.
UCLA - Sanjay Mohanty and Yifang Zhu
Sanjay Mohanty is an associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California Los Angeles. His research broadly focuses on enhancing environmental resilience and public health by studying contamination risks in vulnerable ecosystems. He investigates the fate and transport of pollutants in soil and water, particularly during climate extremes such as wildfires and flooding, and explores strategies to minimize exposure. He holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and a B.S. in Physics from Utkal University in India.
Yifang Zhu is a Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA. Her current research focuses on identifying key factors that influence air pollutant exposures by measuring and modeling emissions, transport, and transformation in both the atmosphere and various indoor environments. Her scholarship has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the Rosenblith New Investigator Award from the Health Effects Institute, the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, and the Haagen-Smit Prize from Atmospheric Environment. Dr. Zhu holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences from UCLA and a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua University in China.
Loyola Marymount University - Fernando J. Guerra and Brianne Gilbert
Fernando J. Guerra, in addition to his role as the founding director of StudyLA, is a full professor of political science and Chicana/o studies at LMU. He has served on standing commissions, blue-ribbon committees, and ad hoc task forces for the city of Los Angeles, the State of California, and regional bodies in Southern California. Fernando is published in the area of state and local government and urban and ethnic politics. He earned his doctorate in Political Science from the University of Michigan and his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California.
Brianne Gilbert, in addition to her role as managing director at StudyLA, is also a senior lecturer at LMU in the department of political science. She is published in the fields of LA politics, geospatial techniques, and undergraduate research development, and is the author of Statistics in the Social Sciences: Inferential Statistics as Rhetoric in Sociology. Brianne received her B.A. in Sociology with an emphasis in Statistics from Wittenberg University and her M.A. in Comparative Sociology and Anthropology from Florida International University.
Cal Poly Pomona - Mónica Palomo
Mónica Palomo, P.E., BCEE, is a professor in the Civil Engineering Department at Cal Poly Pomona. Her research has focused on natural treatment systems for surface water remediation, wastewater treatment, sanitation in developing countries, urban soils quality, engineering outreach, service learning, and engineering education. She holds a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Guanajuato, México, and her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees (both in Civil Engineering with an environmental emphasis) from Kansas State University.
R&S Kayne Foundation - Saree Kayne and Sarah Ali
Saree Kayne is a cultural anthropologist (PhD, Stanford University 2020). Prior to that, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago. In addition to her work at the Foundation, she also serves as Vice-President of the board of the KCRW Foundation, a leading NPR affiliate in Los Angeles that serves as a hub of culture, news and music for the community. Saree is interested in medicine and volunteers at the Venice Family Clinic, and formerly at the Telluride Medical Center in Telluride, CO.
Sarah Ali has a background in education, strategy, and leadership. She earned a B.A. in Political Science and M.A. in School Administration at Loyola Marymount University. Previous governance and leadership roles include: Board Chair and Interim Executive Director for Snap Foundation; Board Secretary for the SEED School of Los Angeles, a college-prep public boarding school; Advisory Committee, Los Angeles Postsecondary Funders Collaborative; and administrative roles at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy and Aspire Public Schools. She serves on the Boards of Dreamhaus and Crenshaw Dairy Mart, two L.A. based arts organizations.
Funding and Support
If you or your organization are interested in joining the R&S Kayne Foundation in supporting CAP.LA, we invite you to visit our giving page (and enter CAP.LA under the "Additional Gift Instructions") or contact Brianne Gilbert at 310-338-4565 or brianne.gilbert@lmu.edu.
As the recovery continues, additional funding will allow us to ensure we are able to nimbly and effectively help as many people as possible through additional research, data visualization, and support for data-informed civic engagement.