Toxic homes a lasting legacy of Los Angeles fires | International

ALTADENA, United States, Sept 24, 2025 (AFP) - The fires that tore through Los Angeles nine months ago didn't destroy Karen Girard's home. But the smoke left her walls, floors and furniture infused with a toxic cocktail. Tests have found heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and zinc, as well as volatile organic compounds like cyanide and furfural that have left her home uninhabitable. When the flames razed neighboring houses in January during a terrifying firestorm in Altadena, Girard was astonished to learn her property was spared. "I thought I should go out and buy lottery tickets, because I never thought I would be this lucky again," she told AFP. But even after only short visits Girard finds herself suffering from...