When it comes to Fire Waste Removal, the Environmental Protection Agency has a system of color-coding items. Orange denotes known hazardous material, while pink is material that is assumed to have asbestos in it (at least until it can be further tested), and materials marked in white spray paint are safe to remove as ‘simple debris’. A spokesperson for the E.P.A. says that what people can’t see if often more hazardous than what they can see….and he notes that ash can be very dangerous. While it normally takes a reasonable amount of time to get the E.P.A. crews to come mark a fire site, with this many fires it would normally take longer, and the need to follow Covid-19 safety protocols is making it take even longer. Once the E.P.A. crews have been through a site, the next step needs to be cleared through the county.
