Eight months ago, a fire broke out at a massive World War II-era hangar in Tustin, spewing toxic smoke into the air and sending asbestos-laden debris raining over the surrounding communities. LAist has now mapped just how far and wide that debris fell and which neighborhoods bore the brunt of the fallout, based on data obtained by LAist from the city of Tustin.
The data illustrate the chaotic nature of the cleanup, and the panic and frustration felt by many residents as they sought help and guidance in navigating a major disaster. It affected an estimated 14,000 people and had potentially serious health consequences.
In all, the records show people reported ash and debris from the fire as far as 10 miles from the hangar, although the vast majority of reports were within three miles.
Explore the map
This is the first publicly available map showing the spread of where fire debris was reported across the county, based on public records. The fire, which started on Nov. 7 and lasted for 24 days, torched one of the largest wooden structures ever built — 17 stories high and covering an area larger than five football fields.
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To help understand and visualize the impact of the Nov. 7, 2023 blimp hangar fire on Tustin and surrounding communities, LAist submitted a California Public Records Act request for all reports of debris received by the city through its online portal or hotline. In response, the city provided us with three spreadsheets of information that included more than 3,700 rows of data covering the period from Nov. 13 through Jan. 9.
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The original files included hundreds of duplicate records, in part because many people had multiple interactions with the city's fire debris cleanup program.
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In other cases, addresses were incomplete or missing altogether from records. The city explained that the online reporting form did not initially require people to fill out the address field in order to submit a report.
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We discarded 237 reports without an address and cleaned up any duplicates to create a list of unique addresses. We then geocoded the 1,382 addresses, omitting 8 that could not be accurately mapped, to create a heat map highlighting areas with the most addresses linked to reports.
The cleanup — which is still underway more than eight months after the fire broke out — has so far cost taxpayers around $90 million, according to Tustin officials. The bulk of that sum has been spent to remove debris presumed to contain asbestos, once considered a "wonder material" and used widely. It's now known to cause lung disease and cancer.
Hundreds of workers have spent months combing the surrounding neighborhoods in hazmat suits, searching through bushes for chunks of charred, fibrous debris (a sign that it may contain asbestos), vacuuming ash off patios, and in some cases, hauling away soot-covered lawn furniture and cushions, which can't be fully cleaned of asbestos.
"It was a tremendous undertaking," said Tustin Mayor Austin Lumbard. "We've made so much progress over these last months, and I'm very proud of it."
Multiple state and federal agencies were involved in developing and implementing the cleanup protocols, which officials say sought to balance safety with speed as they dealt with hundreds of cleanup requests daily in the first few weeks of the fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Nearly 1,400 addresses mapped
Through public records requests, LAist identified 1,382 addresses where either a resident reported debris from the hangar fire or a city contractor inspected a property for fire debris. The vast majority of the addresses correspond to private homes, but the data also includes parks, businesses and schools.
The largest concentration of reports was from Columbus Square, the neighborhood directly north of the hangar site.
People reported debris as far north as the Anaheim Hills and as far west as Foothill Ranch — both about 10 miles away from the burn site.
It’s important to note that the city's records for these and hundreds of other addresses where debris was reported are incomplete: Often, the records were not updated following inspection, making it hard to determine whether debris was found, and whether that debris likely contained asbestos, according to the records given to LAist by the city.
Because of this, it's unclear exactly how far away from the fire asbestos-containing debris was confirmed. But documents obtained by LAist from the Orange County Fire Authority show that debris containing asbestos was confirmed at least three miles northeast of the hangar, likely carried by Santa Ana winds that blew in the days following the fire break-out.
How did the fire start?
The Orange County Fire Authority was alerted in the early hours of Nov. 7 to a fire at one of two historic hangars that housed blimps used to patrol for enemy submarines off the U.S. coastline during World War II. The hangars were commissioned in 1942. Because of wartime steel rationing, they were built almost entirely of wood — 2.7 million board feet each. That's roughly equivalent to the amount of timber contained in four-and-a-half General Sherman giant sequoias or about 5,400 average size homes.
When firefighters arrived on scene, they could find no working hydrant near the smoking hangar, according to fire authority records obtained by LAist. The hangar was equipped with a sprinkler system, but it was "non-operational," according to Navy spokesperson Christopher Dunne. Dunne told LAist that utilities on the former military base, including water systems, were transferred to the city of Tustin in May 2002.
Using fire engines and two water-dropping helicopters, more than 100 firefighters fought the blaze. But they ultimately decided to let it burn out, in part because of the risk to first responders that the structure would collapse.
Despite ample documentation from the Navy and the city of Tustin showing that asbestos, lead paint and chemicals were used extensively throughout the building, officials did not initially warn residents and onlookers that smoke and debris from the fire could be particularly dangerous.
As the building burned, nearby residents, veterans and others with sentimental ties to the former Tustin air base flocked to the fenceline to get a final glimpse of the beloved hangars. Children at nearby elementary schools collected chunks of the charred hangar as mementos. Gardeners unwittingly spread debris around with leaf blowers.
It wasn't until nearly two days after the fire broke out that the South Coast Air Quality Management District released the results of testing showing that some fire debris contained up to 37% asbestos. Subsequent testing would find fire debris that contained up to 75% asbestos, according to documents obtained by LAist from the county fire authority.
When breathed in, asbestos fibers can become lodged in the lungs and cause serious health consequences that often don't show up until decades later. Asbestos exposure is linked to more than 40,000 deaths in the U.S. each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Other official testing from the early days of the fire found trace amounts of asbestos in air samples, and elevated levels of lead and other heavy metals inside the smoke plume, although subsequent air quality testing was within normal parameters.
The test results kicked the fire response into high gear.
The city declared a local state of emergency and closed all parks. The Tustin Unified School District temporarily closed all of its schools and implemented distance learning. The Orange County Health Care Agency advised people to stay indoors, keep windows closed, and avoid touching ash or debris from the fire. Some people would end up waiting weeks for city contractors to remove toxic debris from their front porches, yards and balconies.
How bureaucracy complicated the cleanup
The cleanup has faced challenges from the beginning, in part because of the web of agencies and jurisdictions involved and the sheer spread of the debris as documented in the map. Since the military base closed in 1999, much of the land has been sold off and turned into shopping centers, schools, apartments and neighborhoods — including many of those heavily affected by toxic fire debris.
But the Navy has retained ownership of both hangars and the land immediately surrounding them, while it monitors the status of groundwater contaminants stemming from their former use. The contaminants are primarily per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and trichloroethylene (TCE). (The contaminated groundwater underneath the former Tustin base is not used for drinking water.)
The Navy, however, doesn't maintain the base, so the county and city of Tustin were forced to take charge of the fire and the subsequent cleanup.
The cleanup has also been complicated because asbestos remediation is highly regulated. Cleanup plans require approval from the local Air Quality Management District, and anyone who oversees testing or removal of asbestos must be certified by the state.
The voices of panic, frustration
On Nov. 12, five days after the fire broke out, asbestos contractors began cleaning up debris in public areas around the hangar site.
By then, residents were desperate to know whether they had asbestos debris in their yards and inside their homes, and if so, how to get it properly cleaned.
On Nov. 14, the city announced it was launching a call center and online form where residents could report debris and request a cleanup. The city reported receiving 853 cleanup requests in the first three days, according to a memo from O.C. fire division chief Craig Covey.
Contractors wouldn't start picking up debris on private property until two weeks after the fire broke out, according to city records.
An LAist review of reports that came through the city's call center and debris reporting portal from Nov. 14 through Jan. 9 highlights residents' distress over the toxicity of fallout that covered roofs, patios, and yards. In some cases, residents reported that ash and debris got inside their homes.
"Our front patio, balcony above the garage, window sills inside and out, windows (inside and out) our air and HVAC ducts, on our driveway, our garage door, garage floor and exterior doors," one resident reported to the city on Nov. 17, documenting where they had found fire remnants.
Another reported on Dec. 7 that they were having severe "upper respiratory symptoms and would really appreciate you coming as soon as possible."
Some residents became frustrated after making multiple requests for cleanup. One resident reported to the city on Nov. 22: "This is my third submission. I need someone to inspect the ash on our patio and deck and roof and clean. I am a high-risk individual and have been displaced (staying elsewhere) because of this."
Reports also came in from neighboring Irvine, including from one woman who said she and her kids went to the hospital because of respiratory problems during the fire. She said it had been "impossible" to breathe at home. "We have very old windows and all ashes and small pieces of debris entered in my home," she wrote.
The limitations of the cleanup
The cleanup in residential areas has dragged on for months, and the city's asbestos contractors often went out to addresses multiple times, according to records reviewed by LAist. Residents were required to be present and sign a waiver giving workers permission to enter the exterior part of their property to assess and remove fire debris. If contractors found no one home, they would leave a flier on the door with a QR code inviting the resident to re-submit a request for cleanup. Many residents were frustrated with the process.
There was "no real definitive date or time from like a scheduling or RSVP perspective," Jeff Lawrence, a Columbus Square resident, told LAist in December.
The city's asbestos contractors did not clean rooftops or second story balconies, according to Stephanie Najera, a spokesperson for the city of Tustin. Najera wrote in an email to LAist that the cleanup "prioritized prompt and safe removal of debris from accessible ground-level areas, where the greatest potential existed for contact with the material."
But interviews with residents and records show that debris often didn't stay put in inaccessible places. Some residents filed follow-up requests after rain or wind brought debris into areas that had already been cleaned. Rooftops were a major source of this recontamination.
It’s literally a joke. Instead of doing it right the first time they properly wasted millions of dollars doing it the wrong way.
In one cleanup request filed with the city on Nov. 16, the resident wrote: "Cleaning crew came today but did not remove from my front patio, second story patio or roof. Now that it has rained, my rain gutters are full and clogged with debris that was on the roof, causing the debris to overflow and cover the ground again."
Lawrence, in a recent email to LAist, wrote of the repeat cleanups: "It’s literally a joke. Instead of doing it right the first time they properly wasted millions of dollars doing it the wrong way."
Documentation of the work done at individual homes was often sparse, according to interviews with residents and the city records reviewed by LAist.
When clean-up crews arrived at Lawrence's home in late November, workers advised him that the outdoor couches and other patio furniture in his backyard were contaminated and should be thrown away. But Lawrence said the workers provided no documentation of what they took or of the other remediation work they did on his property, which could be important for things like insurance claims and future liability.
"Other than our own, you know, security cameras, we have nothing that shows that they took anything or did anything or what they cleaned, what they didn't," he told LAist.
The city's asbestos contractors also generally did not test fire debris on private property for asbestos, despite residents' expectations that they would.
Initially, the city's published information — on their website and on fliers — about the cleanup process explained to residents that an asbestos specialist would visit their home, collect samples of debris for testing, and then advise them whether or not the debris had asbestos. If so, a cleanup crew would be dispatched back to the home.
In reality, the city's asbestos contractors primarily relied on visual inspections, according to Najera, to assess whether debris was likely to contain asbestos.
That left some residents anxious and uncertain about their safety.
"HELP US!!!!!" one resident wrote to the city on Nov. 22, in all caps. "WE HAVE NOW CONTACTED THIS ‘PORTAL’ THREE TIMES WITH NO RESPONSE! WE HAVE ASBESTOS IN OUR BACKYARD AND NO ONE HAS COME TO TEST IT OR CLEAN IT UP DESPITE OUR NUMEROUS PHONE CALLS AND SUBMISSIONS FOR HELP!!!!!!"
Lawrence, for his part, ended up paying private companies to test his home for asbestos in mid-November and mid-December. They documented asbestos-laden fire debris on the roof, in the gutters, and in the backyard, according to their reports, which were reviewed by LAist. They did not find asbestos in dust samples taken inside his home.
The cleanup bill totalled $12,718, which Lawrence's insurance covered. He told LAist in an email that his family still has "thousands of dollars" in claims stemming from the tossed patio furniture and other losses from the fire.
Najera told LAist in an email that the city's contracted asbestos specialists and remediation teams responded to all reports of debris. She said "the cleanup methodology and documentation protocols were approved by the federal EPA, state Department of Toxic Substances Control, the South Coast Air Quality District, and the Orange County Health Care Agency."
What the city’s test results found
In the weeks following the hangar fire, Lumbard, Tustin's mayor, repeatedly asked for help from the state and the Navy to deal with what he called an unprecedented disaster for the small city with a population of 78,000. The state declined to issue a disaster declaration related to the hangar fire, which could have opened up federal funding and other assistance for the city and its affected residents and businesses.
State Sen. Josh Newman later took up the effort, crafting a resolution urging President Joe Biden to declare the hangar fire a national emergency "to address the ongoing impacts on public health, the environment, and the local economy." The resolution, which passed through the state legislature on July 1, also asks the president and Congress to dedicate $100 million in supplemental funding for the cleanup effort.
Lumbard, in an interview with LAist, said the city was forced to handle an emergency not of its making.
"This is ultimately the Navy's responsibility," Lumbard said of the fire and the cleanup. "I'm just proud of the way the city was able to step up in a void of leadership and take action because our community needed help."
Earlier this year — several months after the hangar fire finally burnt out — Tustin hired experts to test outdoor soil and indoor dust and air samples at 50 homes near the hangar site. In May, they announced the results, saying that "no asbestos fibers were identified in soil, indoor air, or indoor dust above health screening criteria in any of the 80 homes."
Still, the debate over the fire's impact on residents' health and finances is far from over — at least two class action lawsuits and an unknown number of individual claims are in the works.
And the cleanup is not over. The Navy plans to finish dismantling the torched hangar and begin removing toxic debris from the former military base on Monday.
It's expected to take up to a year.
Maloy Moore and Brian Frank also contributed to this report.
