Learning the age of your home or other structure offers valuable insights into whether it contains potential toxic materials like asbestos, lead, cadmium or arsenic.

So many people have lost so much during the 2025 LA wildfires. Accurately determining the age of a structure before renovation or demolition work begins may be the only way to avoid yet another disaster.

As of mid-January 2025, the Palisades fire, along with two other wildfires in SoCal, had scorched tens of thousands of acres and killed over two dozen people. Authorities believe illegal fireworks at a popular Pacific Palisades hiking trail may have caused the blaze.

The Palisades Fire has already destroyed at least 10,000 structures in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu and areas of the Santa Monica Mountains. The Eaton Fire leveled approximately 7,000 structures and charred 14,000 acres in Altadena and Pasadena.

Most importantly for our purposes, officials issued a limited smoke-related air quality alert on January 9, 2025. They extended and expanded this alert the next day. Smoke inhalation usually causes more injuries than fire. Smoke also usually causes more property damage than fire. 

That’s just the direct damage. Indirect smoke damage, especially to people, is often much worse. The toxic particles in smoke are slightly heavier than air. So, the rise eventually, because of the hot air. But eventually, the air cools, and these heavier-than-air particles drift back down to earth. The landing point may be many miles away from the source point.

A fire the size of the Palisades and Eaton fires consume everything in their path, including commercial and residential structures built before 1980. Approximately 60 percent of SOCal homes were built before 1980. A pre-1980 construction date usually means the structure was laced with asbestos, mostly in:

  • Attic insulation,
  • Drywall,
  • Concrete,
  • Pipe insulation,
  • Roof tiles,
  • Electrical insulation, and
  • Ceiling tiles.

The communities in the Palisades/Eaton fire areas are among the oldest communities in Los Angeles. Many parts of the three hardest-hit communities (Malibu, Altadena, and Pasadena) were built before World War II.

The Home’s Age and Health Risks

Smoke-related health risks are certainly not unique to the 2025 California wildfires. In 2023, a series of wildfires raced across the Hawaiian island of Maui. The state Department of Health advised returning refugees to wear facemasks and protect themselves against toxic ash that can cause irritation of the skin, nose, and throat. 

Face masks protect the nose and throat, but they don’t protect other body cavities, such as tear ducts and skin pores. That vulnerability may seem insignificant. But the asbestos fibers floating through the air in Maui, and in California, are microscopic. They easily pass through these tiny openings.

Toxic building materials present the additional dangers of exposure during natural disasters.

Hurricanes also destroy old buildings. The winds then spread the asbestos fibers inside these buildings over very wide areas. 

We must also include perhaps the biggest disaster of our time on this list. When the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, the asbestos-laced toxic cloud covered much of New York City. Since asbestos exposure illnesses have such long latency periods, the full health imp[act of 9/11 may not be known until 2050, at the earliest.

Hazards in the Wildfire Clean-up

As for the California wildfires, onsite volunteers, like rescue workers, and professional emergency responders are especially vulnerable to smoke-related asbestos poisoning. They come into contact with the most fibers. Friends and loved ones of these individuals are at great risk as well. Tiny asbestos fibers have tiny spikes, so they easily cling to hair, clothes, and other soft surfaces. So, anyone who comes into contact with these individuals also comes into direct contact withy asbestos fibers.

The home’s age continues to affect health risk long after the fires subside. Demolition and renovation workers are usually exposed to asbestos as they work in the aforementioned parts of a residential or commercial structure. Frequently, these workers aren’t fully protected from asbestos fibers, mostly because the company hides the risk from its workers. To many profit-conscious companies, proper PPE (personal protective equipment) is an unnecessary cost.

Property owners should be deeply concerned about these risks as well. Before 2019, landowners were largely immune to asbestos exposure lawsuits. However, under current law, property owners could be liable for damages if victims contract asbestos exposure-related illnesses. 

Most homes built before 1980 have been transferred two, three, four, or more times. Current owners often don’t know a home’s construction date. Ignorance of fact could be a legal defense. But instead of risking a large liability judgment, determining a home’s age and responding appropriately is a much better strategy.

Asbestos Exposure Illnesses

Stray asbestos fibers are the near-exclusive cause of mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of lung cancer that’s difficult to diagnose and treat.

We mentioned the extended latency period of mesothelioma and other asbestos exposure illnesses above. Since most victims don’t show any signs of illness, such as radical weight loss or chronic pain, for at least fifty years, many doctors don’t perform mesothelioma tests. That’s especially true since most of these victims have no genetic or lifestyle cancer markers. 

Breathing Asbestos Leads to Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer

Additionally, on the off chance that doctors test for lung cancer, they usually look for tumors inside the lung, not outside the lung in the mesothelium (membrane layer around the lungs). By the time a tumor spreads to the lung itself, the disease is usually in Stage II or Stage III. At that point, treatment options are limited.

Specifically, traditional cancer treatments, such as radiation therapy, are ineffective. Because the tumor is so large, doctors must turn up the dial. The excess radiation causes too much collateral damage.

Asbestos fibers also contribute to other kinds of cancer. These toxic fibers increase the level of free radical particles in the body. These particles are connected with all kinds of cancer, not just mesothelioma. Digestive tract cancer, such as stomach and throat cancer, are especially common asbestos-related illnesses.

Disaster asbestos exposure victims are usually eligible for Social Security Disability benefits. An asbestos exposure lawyer usually files such claims if, after an investigation, an attorney cannot connect the victim’s mesothelioma or other disease with a specific source.

Benefits in SSD claims usually include a monthly cash stipend and free healthcare. Most SSD recipients can work part time to supplement their income and keep their full disability benefits.

However, in most cases, connection is possible, especially if an asbestos exposure lawyer uses high technology tools. Additional compensation is available in civil claims, such as money for emotional distress. Additional punitive damages are usually available as well.

To obtain this compensation, a lawyer must normally prove that the company negligently failed to warn people in the area about the possibility of disaster-related asbestos exposure.