When wildfires tear through older buildings, they can release toxic asbestos fibers into the air, posing hidden health hazards to firefighters and nearby communities.

In early 2025, a series of highly destructive wildfires blazed through Southern California, destroying more than 57,000 acres of land and destroying at least 18,000 homes, offices, and other structures.

The California wildfires were not an anomaly: since the 1990s, wildfires have become an increasingly common occurrence. In the past two years alone, wildfires have caused billions of dollars in property damage, with three major conflagrations reported in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

However, the danger posed by wildfires isn’t limited to personal injury and property damage. Large natural disasters often necessitate an extensive period of socioeconomic recovery, involving the repair, construction, and demolition of affected buildings. In fact, the debris generated by wildfires—heavy with ash, and further contaminated by burnt wood and plastic—can constitute a hazard significant in its own right.

Wildfire, Debris, and Public Health

Wildfires impact people in many different ways.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the increased frequency of large, intense wildfires has led to widespread problemas de salud among victims. Most injuries reported during and in the immediate aftermath of a wildfire fall into three categories:

Fire-related injuries, like burns;
Smoke-related injuries, such as acute breathing problems and longer-lasting lung, throat, and heart conditions; and
Accident-related injuries, including car accidents on congested evacuation routes or slip-and-fall accidents while quickly leaving a home or store.

Short-term and Long-term Damage from Wildfire Contaminants

Fire-, smoke-, and accident-related injuries tend to trigger symptoms without much delay. Furthermore, the cause of these types of injuries are almost always apparent to the victim. After all, if you’ve been burned in a fire or haven’t been able to stop coughing from smoke, you can most likely identify the source of your injury without much difficulty.

However, hazards can remain long after a fire has been extinguished. The U.S. Forest Service, for instance, notes that risks can arise from “potential flooding, debris flows, and infrastructure damage.”

An understated risk of the recovery phase involves degraded and destroyed building materials, which may contain asbestos and other harmful stances.

Asbestos in the Home

Asbestos is a naturally-occurring mineral that can be found in relative abundance throughout the United States, with large deposits located everywhere from California and Montana to New Mexico and Vermont. It has a dense and fibrous structure, lending it strength and durability. Asbestos is also resistant to fire, making it an inexpensive and convenient insulator.

Historically, asbestos use was widespread, and much of it is still around.

Although asbestos today is heavily regulated at the state and federal levels, it was once a mainstay of American industry. Between the early 1900s and late 1970s, asbestos was used in the manufacture of almost every product imaginable—drywall and shingles, cosmetics and gloves and aprons, even cigarette filters.

Some of the most common materiales que contienen asbesto in the home included, but were not limited to, the following:

Piezas de automóviles
Bases de moqueta
Cemento
Glues and adhesives
Electrical components
Felt
Materiales ignífugos
Aislamiento
Maquinaria
Plastic
Cement sheeting
Baldosas de vinilo

The United States began clamping down on the asbestos industry in the 1970s, restricting its role in manufacturing and home-building to a handful of preauthorized uses. Around the same time, people who had been exposed to asbestos and developed conditions like mesothelioma and lung cancer started to take asbestos companies to court, forcing many to either reorganize or file for bankruptcy.

The Health Risks of Asbestos Exposure

The asbestos industry collapsed, but its products remained hidden in homes, schools, and office buildings across the country. According to some estimates, about 30 million homes throughout the United States still contain significant concentrations of asbestos. Most of these asbestos-based products pose very little risk to homeowners, provided that they are in good condition and generally inaccessible.

Damaged asbestos-containing materials can release the harmful asbestos fibers.

However, asbestos can degrade over time or through sustained use.

Although asbestos itself cannot catch fire, it can be damaged by flame—potentially releasing microscopic particles of asbestos fiber into the surrounding environment. These particles are too small to be seen with the naked eye, and they have no distinct odor, either.

Asbestos fiber is, in fact, small enough to be inhaled and ingested without noticing.

But, once asbestos is inside the body, it cannot be removed—it is simply too strong and durable for the immune system to eradicate. Instead, it can remain lodged inside pleural tissue for years, eventually causing extensive scarring and chronic irritation. In some cases, fiber can even infiltrate the bloodstream, making its way to other organs and systems.

There is no safe level of exposure to asbestos fiber; any amount could have long-term implications. Exposure is associated with enfermedades including, but not limited to, the following:

La Asbestosis
Enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica
Cáncer de pulmón
Maligno mesotelioma
Efusiones pleurales
Placas pleurales
Testicular cancer
Throat cancer

Unlike the flu or a common cold, though, asbestos won’t make you feel sick a few days or weeks after exposure. Instead, it slowly and gradually turns your body against itself: embedded asbestos fibers can irritate surrounding tissue, triggering inflammation. Over the course of many years—often decades—this can cause chronic respiratory problems and, sometimes, the same types of genetic mutations that give rise to cancer.

Mitigating the Risks of Asbestos Exposure

The process of removing asbestos from a home, much less one damaged by fire, can be time-consuming and expensive. However, it is the only way to permanently mitigate the risk of exposure inside your own home. You may need to consider asbestos abatement or removal if:

Your home was built before 1978
Your home, or a portion of your home, was damaged by fire
You have old ceiling tiles, pipe fixtures, or other home components that were likely made with asbestos and appear to be in poor condition
You are planning to conduct extensive repairs, renovations, or demolitions
You are planning to buy or sell an older home at any point in the near future

If you suspect that your home may contain asbestos, and you believe that the asbestos could pose a risk to your family, you should likely contact your local health department to ask about local asbestos testing resources.

Asbestos testing usually involves collecting a sample of a suspected asbestos-containing material, placing it inside a leakproof bag, and mailing it to a laboratory for examination. You will be notified of the results irrespective of whether they are positive or negative.

If your sample tests positive for asbestos, you may need to consider your options for removal. Asbestos removal typically takes either of the following forms:

Asbestos abatement is a broad term used to describe many different strategies of managing a known asbestos hazard. Abatement can include the physical removal of asbestos-containing materials or the encapsulation of asbestos-contaminated surfaces.
Asbestos removal is a more specific terms that refers exclusively to the physical removal of asbestos-containing materials.

If you need to remove asbestos, use a pro.

There are health concerns and potential legal liabilities if asbestos is improperly or removed without following regulations.

Depending on the extent of the contamination, you may be able to undertake abatement by yourself. However, without the right training and expertise, asbestos removal can be dangerous. It often necessitates removing furniture from affected rooms, sealing off entryways, installing ventilators, and wearing special protective equipment. Beyond this, asbestos cannot simply be placed in the trash—it can only be disposed of at an authorized landfill or recycling center.