California is drafting new rules for wildfire smoke cleanup. Are home insurers calling the shots?

Wearing protective coveralls and a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear-rated gas mask, Debbie McMahon walks in her Altadena living room on Sept. 25, where last year’s Christmas tree still stands after the wildfire evacuation. McMahon is among the many displaced Los Angeles County residents who are fighting with their insurance companies over smoke damage. Wearing protective coveralls and a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear-rated gas mask, Debbie McMahon walks in her Altadena living room on Sept. 25, where last year’s Christmas tree still stands after the wildfire evacuation. McMahon is among the many displaced Los Angeles County residents who are fighting with their insurance companies over smoke damage. Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle By Sara DiNatale, Megan Fan Munce, Susie Neilson, Staff Writers Dec 5, 2025 As the Los Angeles wildfires died out in January, firefighters trekked through the burn zones to take stock of the destruction. For every home they found leveled, they counted another still standing. The structures looked fine from the outside, but ash and oily soot often coated the floors and furniture, while invisible chemicals burrowed into clothes, blankets and even walls. Many of these smoke-soaked homes quickly became battlegrounds. On one side were cost-conscious insurance companies, who largely resisted testing for heavy metals, ordering the homes wiped clean and telling policyholders it was fine to move back. On the other, survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires, fearful that the dangerous pollutants dusting their homes could one day make them sick. Read more.