The L.A. wildfire cleanup was fast. Residents eager to rebuild worry officials chose speed over safety

Federal agencies say the L.A. wildfire cleanup in was an unprecedented success, with nearly 9,700 properties cleared in eight months.

But critics worry workers sacrificed safety for the sake of speed, with a significant number of supposedly cleaned properties still containing elevated lead levels.

Property owners now face costly soil testing and potential remediation before rebuilding on potentially contaminated land.

The devastation left in the wake of January’s Eaton and Palisades fires was unimaginable. The firestorms engulfed 59 square miles of Southern California — more than twice the size of Manhattan — transforming entire city blocks in Altadena and Pacific Palisades into corridors of ashes, twisted metal and skeletal trees.

Federal disaster officials rapidly deployed thousands