Newman added that any wildfire survivors who begin to develop respiratory symptoms down the line should inform their doctors about their potential exposure to beryllium. A blood test exists to check for beryllium sensitization, though Newman advised waiting about a year to be tested.

For anyone who has lost their house or apartment, we ask that you do not discard your old keys. We are establishing drop sites to collect them, and turn those many, many keys into a tribute to the devastated communities. We feel this will be a powerful visual statement that we hope will help people move forward.Caty Maxey, volunteer

“In the beginning, it was like, ‘Oh, thank goodness, our house is standing, but this is hard to celebrate because everybody around us lost their house,’” Lambert says. “Then as the time went by, every day you’re realizing there’s more and more unknowns. It’s not as simple as, ‘There was a fire, it’s gone, clean your house, go back.’ It’s so much more complicated.”

L.A. tenants have one advantage that renters in Hawaiʻi did not: a spreadsheet cataloging alleged incidents of price-gouging compiled by tenant activists with The Rent Brigade, a new collective organized by Chelsea Kirk and Philip Meyer.