In the wake of deadly wildfires, authorities must guard the health of students and faculty by properly examining testing, cleaning and repairing schools exposed to fire and toxic ash.

Forty-five years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency called asbestos in schools “a significant hazard to public health.” Yet today, in 2025, the agency estimates that some sixteen million Americans, mostly children, are exposed to asbestos every time the bell rings. That number is poised to go up, as the 2025 California wildfires damaged many schools and other public buildings.

Furthermore, the exposure risk doesn’t end with students and staff. In fact, in many ways it’s just beginning. Demolition and renovation workers regularly stumble upon asbestos when they clean up damaged buildings. Additionally, when these workers, students, and teachers go home, they unwittingly carry asbestos fibers home with them. These fibers then poison an ever-widening circle of people. More on that below.

Therefore, before construction workers enter damaged public buildings, the state, county, city, or other owner must conduct a thorough safety inspection. These inspections are required by law. But most drivers don’t stop at the stop sign on the corner, and most public authorities don’t properly inspect facilities. An asbestos exposure lawyer holds these authorities responsible for these shortcomings and forces them to compensate asbestos exposure victims.

Asbestos Exposure Hazards

We mentioned the kinds of asbestos exposure victims above. Now, let’s break it down a little more, in the context of damaged schools and other public buildings.

Direct Occupational: Property owners usually don’t warn renovations and demolition workers about asbestos. So, these workers are not wearing proper PPE (personal protective equipment) when they come into contact with this deadly substance.
Indirect Occupational: Construction company employees who never visit job sites are also at risk. Spiky asbestos fibers easily cling to surfaces, such as clothes and hair. So, when construction workers call it a day and return to the office, they poison the air with asbestos fibers.
Direct Ambient (Environmental): Safety inspection responsibilities begin before a wildfire or other disaster releases asbestos fibers into the air. People who spend time in schools or other infected environments should know about the risk, so if they develop asbestos exposure diseases later in life, they can connect the dots.
Indirect Ambient: The duty to warn extends to people in the surrounding area. As toxic smoke floats through the air, it infects everyone in the vicinity of that damaged building. This category includes not only local residents, but also rescue volunteers and emergency responders.

Lung diseases, such as mesothelioma and asbestosis, are the most common asbestos exposure illnesses. Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer which has a very high fatality rate. Asbestosis is a lung disease that closes breathing passageways, causing victims to almost literally suffocate.

Schools, Public Buildings, and Asbestos

Many of these facilities, especially libraries, were built before 1980, when builders heavily used asbestos, a fireproof substance, in attic insulation and other areas, such as concrete, ceiling tiles, and drywall. Asbestos is safe as long as it’s trapped inside walls or attics. But it’s highly toxic when released into the air, perhaps because a fire damaged the building.

Furthermore, builders normally used chrysotile (white) asbestos. This substance is very easy to stuff into attics and wrap around pipes or wires. But this substance, which resembles a few layers of tissue paper, breaks down easily. As a result, dust and fibers almost inevitably float into the air if the asbestos is disturbed..

Even many years after students are exposed to asbestos, the governmental unit that owned the building could be liable for damages. Given the awful nature of asbestos exposure illnesses, and also because so many people were exposed to this substance, damages could be substantial.

Safety Inspection Requirements

So, a good asbestos safety inspection is essential before a school or other public building reopens after a fire or other disaster. A thorough inspection has four basic components.

Exposure Warning

As mentioned, most buildings constructed before 1980 are laced with asbestos. A health warning is essential, both for legal and moral purposes.

Legally, a warning makes it easier to prove assumption of the risk, a key defense in negligence cases. Assumption of the risk is a subset of comparative fault, a legal doctrine that shifts blame for an accident or illness from one party to another.

Air Test

A warning, by itself, isn’t enough to protect people. School and other public building owners must go the extra mile, beginning with an ambient air test.

The standard is uncertain. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration states that an exposure level under .01 parts per million is not dangerous. But OSHA has also stated that there’s no safe asbestos exposure level. Furthermore, the EPA banned asbestos in schools in 1990, and it banned asbestos in public buildings in 2024.

So, the best practice is that, if an air test reveals even trace amounts of asbestos, the safety inspection should also include the next two phases.

As a side note, even vacant buildings should undergo asbestos tests. If the current owner sells the building and contractors renovate it, you guessed it, the original owner could be liable for damages.

Asbestos Removal

Because this substance is so hazardous, only certified contractors should remove asbestos. Usually based on the results of the air test, the contractor goes area by area, removing asbestos from attics or wherever else builders used it.

Is it better to demolish the structure and rebuild, or is it better to remove asbestos and renovate? A contractor offers cost estimates for both approaches. However, complete demolition is usually the best approach. That’s the only way to truly ensure that no asbestos is in a building.

Asbestos Disposal

This final step may be the most difficult one. Asbestos is a hazardous substance that cannot be tossed into a garbage bin. Furthermore, this fireproof substance is difficult to incinerate, which is the preferred hazardous waste disposal method.

Safe disposal is essential. Unsafe disposal usually allows asbestos to seep into soil and water. If that asbestos poisons someone, which it probably will, the property owner could be liable for those damages as well.