Safety

• All Pasadena Unified School District sites were cleaned, sanitized, and pass environmental tests before reopening. This included 33 sites: PUSD schools, offices, and the service center, as well as campuses to be occupied by charter schools.
• In addition to PUSD Maintenance and Operations staff, a specialized contractor undertook the cleaning involving more than 1,500 workers.
• To date, 162 tons of debris have been removed from district sites
• On return to school, masks were available to students and staff

• Commercial sweeping of all playground surfaces
• Pressure washing and sanitizing of all play equipment
• Pressure washing of all rubber playground surfaces
• Pressure washing all building walls facing playground areas
• Raking & vacuuming of all artificial turf
• Removal of all large and visible particulates in play areas with wood chips and sand
• Removal of the first 2 inches of sand in play areas and refilled with new sand

• “HEPA sandwich cleaning method” (HEPA vacuum, wet-wipe, and HEPA vacuum) on all exposed horizontal and vertical surfaces
• Areas cleaned: floors, walls, tops of furniture, tops of fixtures, architectural ledges, wall panels and other items displaying signs of particulate settlement
• Install new air filtration
• HEPA vacuum surface of books and verticals
• Blowers to dry floors and surfaces
• (HEPA: High-Efficiency Particulate Air filters 99.97% of particles, as in medical settings)

• During cleaning, regulated work areas were set up to prevent cross-contamination.
• Provisions for worker safety were observed, including HEPA filtering aerosolized particulates
• Cleaning procedures were implemented across all 33 sites, which includes PUSD schools, charter schools on district sites, and other district sites
• All work was performed in consultation and collaboration with:
• California Department of Education
• California Department of Emergency Services
• Los Angeles County Public Health Department
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Pasadena Unified has consulted with our public health agencies and met with officials from the California Office of Emergency Services, the California Department of Education, and the L.A. County Office of Education about efforts to safely reopen schools.

• Sites were inspected by third-party environmental consultants before being cleared for reopening, with additional cleaning as needed.
• Final reports from environmental consultants were posted on our website pusd.us/firerelief-safety See the Environmental Testing FAQ
• While environmental testing is not required after wildfire cleanup, PUSD proactively undertook these measures as a precautionary step, demonstrating an abundance of caution for the well-being of our school community.
• The Environmental Reports/test results also make note of “other” components observed in the sample, if present. These can include everyday indoor dust elements like skin cells, insect fragments, pollen, mold spores, sand, fibers from construction materials and paint. An “X” in this category does not mean that abnormal presences were detected, simply that some amount was observed.
• Following recommendations from an industrial hygienist and in collaboration with the California Department of Education, California Department of Emergency Services, Los Angeles County Public Health Department, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, soil tests were not conducted. However, out of an abundance of caution, our contractor removed the top two inches of sand from playgrounds and irrigated the school fields.
• The AQMD monitors for lead, asbestos and other toxic substances in the air as part of their ongoing program. Officials from AQMD report that lead and asbestos levels in the Los Angeles Basin have returned to pre-fire background levels.
• The district will monitor daily air quality using California Department of Public Health guidelines. When air quality concerns arise, administrators will be promptly notified and will implement established air contaminant emergency procedures, which include keeping students indoors, restricting outdoor activities and providing additional monitoring for students with pre-existing heart or lung conditions.

A.) Smoke from wildfires can travel great distances. The direction and distance of travel depends on the strength of weather conditions during the fire. Particulates in the smoke will settle out of the air and land on surfaces around the fire, with the highest concentrations being in areas closest to the fire. In general, exterior surfaces are likely to sustain the most significant impact from wildfires, though particulates can enter buildings through openings in the building (windows, doors, vents, etc.) and tend to settle on nearby surfaces.

A.) PUSD’s third-party environmental testing firm's primary focus is to detect the presence of Combustion By-Products (CBP) in settled dust. Sampling was conducted to quantify the detection of CBP following the initial fire.

A.) Combustion By-Product (CBP) samples are analyzed in a laboratory for char, ash and soot presence. These are used as markers for potential wildfire impact.

Char: an incomplete combustion of solids in a high heat environment; in which, solids are partially burned with a visible blackened surface.

Ash: a light, silvery-gray powdery residue left after the burning of a substance.

Soot: a black powdery or flaky substance formed by an incomplete burning of a substance.

A.) During analysis, the laboratory may make note of other components observed in the sample, if present. This information can be useful in non-standard fire assessments, where an unknown dust / debris accumulation is observed. An “X” in a category does not mean that abnormal presences were detected, simply that some amount was observed. Naturally occurring indoor dust can consist of a variety of constituents, including skin flakes, insect fragments, pollen, mold spores, sand, fibers from construction materials and paint. If there is no X in this category, this would indicate that the particular material was not observed.

A.) Currently, there are no regulated levels or standards regarding the presence of ash, char or soot in settled dust for indoor environments. Minor presences can, and do, occur naturally in standard indoor environments. CBP can occur due to emissions from fireplaces, bonfires, wood-burning ovens, combustion engines, and barbeques, among other potential secondary sources, which also emit CBP.

The goal for the assessment is to confirm that cleaning efforts have addressed any significant presences of wildfire-related particulates and reduce the presences (if any) to trace or background amounts.

A.) pH measures how acidic or alkaline (basic) a substance is. The pH scale ranges from 0 (most acidic) to 14 (most basic). A 7 on the scale is considered to be neutral. Normal indoor settled dust is relatively neutral (around 7). Fresh and concentrated ash from burned vegetation has a relatively high pH (11-13). Measuring for pH is not exclusive to wildfire debris, but has been included in this assessment to measure the potential ability of settled dust to affect other materials (whether wildfire related or not).

A.) Please see below.

• CBP (Combustion By-Product): Char, ash and soot
• LOD (Limit of Detection): The smallest concentration in a sample that can be reliably detected by a method of analysis
• LOQ (Limit of Quantitation): The smallest concentration in a sample that can be reliably measured / quantified by a method of analysis
• PLM: Polarized light microscope
• N.D. (Non-Detect): Not found in a high enough concentration for the laboratory equipment to detect
• RLM: Reflected light microscope
• SEM: Scanning electron microscope
• TEM: Transmission electron microscope
• <1%: Some amount of the substance was observed during the analysis, but at a concentration below the limit of detection (1%).

A.) The district will monitor daily air quality using California Department of Public Health guidelines. When air quality concerns arise, administrators will be promptly notified and will implement established air contaminant emergency procedures, which include keeping students indoors, restricting outdoor activities and providing additional monitoring for students with pre-existing heart or lung conditions.

A.) Following recommendations from an industrial hygienist and in collaboration with the California Department of Education, California Department of Emergency Services, Los Angeles County Public Health Department, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, soil tests were not conducted. However, out of an abundance of caution, our contractor removed the top two inches of sand from playgrounds and irrigated the school fields.

A.) The AQMD monitors for lead, asbestos and other toxic substances in the air as part of their ongoing program. Officials from AQMD report that lead and asbestos levels in the Los Angeles Basin have returned to pre-fire background levels.