The fires that tore through Los Angeles nine months ago didn’t destroy Karen Girard’s home. But the smoke

left her walls, floors and furniture infused with a toxic cocktail.

Tests have found heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and zinc, as well as volatile organic compounds like cyanide and furfural that have left her home uninhabitable.

When the flames razed neighboring houses in January during a terrifying firestorm in Altadena, Girard was astonished to learn her property was spared.

“I thought I should go out and buy lottery tickets, because I never thought I would be this lucky again,” she told AFP.

But even after only short visits Girard finds herself suffering from increasing asthma attacks.

Tests revealed problems she couldn’t see — things she says mean the house is no longer saf

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