Edhat Staff
(Santa Barbara resident crossing the street after a street sweeper goes by / Photo by an edhat reader)
Source: County of Santa Barbara
THOMAS FIRE: Tips Offered About When to Clean and How to Clean All That Ash
Evacuated residents are anxious to return to their homes and begin to assess for themselves their properties.
Along with evacuees, all Santa Barbara County residents are thinking about how to clean the ash in a way that is safe for people and the environment.
To clean ash, wear an N-95 mask and remember the three Cs, advise the experts: Control, Contain and Capture.
Control: Try to control the amount of ash particles that get re-suspended into the air. Avoid using any equipment that blows ash into the air such as standard shop vacuums or leaf blowers. Instead, use household vacuums or shop vacuums with HEPA filters.
Contain: Contain ash by gently sweeping indoor and outdoor hard surfaces followed by wet mopping with a damp cloth. Ash may be disposed of in regular trash receptacles or in plastic bags. You may also allow water from cleaning to drain into landscaping as ash will not hurt plants or grass.
Capture: Protect storm drains from ash and any cleaning chemicals used while cleaning by diverting away from storm drains or recapturing. Ash is highly acidic, which in large amounts can be harmful for people, the environment and aquatic life.
Home heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems. Officials suggest cleaning and servicing air conditioning systems and having heating and ventilation system filters changed by professionals once the fire and smoke has subsided.
Please see the attached document and link for more information: http://countyofsb.org/asset.c/3472
Related Articles
- December 14, 2017: Street Sweeping Causes a Stir
- December 13, 2017: Safe Cleanup of Ash
Someone needs to send the writer for the county back to high school chemistry class. “Ash is highly acidic, which in large amounts can be harmful for people, the environment and aquatic life.”
It is not acidic, it is highly alkaline—the exact opposite. But the physiologically effect is the same–burned skin and airways and….see following.
“allow water from cleaning to drain into landscaping as ash will not hurt plants or grass.” Also wrong, not completely, but still wrong. The alkaline water in *sufficient amounts* will raise the pH of the soil and tie up the nitrogen making that nutrient unavailable to the plants. It is easily corrected by adding sulfur compounds, which is generally a good idea anyway as most of soils and tap water is ordinarily alkaline.