{"id":2113,"date":"2025-03-27T23:31:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T23:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/?post_type=news&#038;p=2113"},"modified":"2025-10-13T23:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:02:18","slug":"usc-professors-house-burned-down-now-hes-helping-victims-test-their-soil","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-professors-house-burned-down-now-hes-helping-victims-test-their-soil\/","title":{"rendered":"USC professor\u2019s house burned down, now he\u2019s helping victims test their soil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-light-gray has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-82641648 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained is-style-light-gray--1\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns aligngrid is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:55%\">\n<p class=\"is-style-default tribe-news-single-overline\" style=\"margin-top:0\"><span class=\"is-color-blue\">News<\/span><span class=\"separator\"> | <\/span><span>KCRW<\/span><span class=\"separator\"> | <\/span><span>March 2025<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<h1 style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);\" class=\"wp-block-post-title\">USC professor\u2019s house burned down, now he\u2019s helping victims test their soil<\/h1>\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-large is-style-large--2\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">The federal government will not test soil in the fire zones, so USC researchers are doing it for them. For earth scientist Josh West, the work is close to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outlined tribe-button-has-icon is-style-outlined--3\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kcrw.com\/shows\/press-play-with-madeleine-brand\/stories\/soil-test\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read full article at KCRW<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:45%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large has-custom-border\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2114\" style=\"border-radius:16px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113-1619x1080.jpg 1619w, https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo Source: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--4\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">Filed under<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"c-tag-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-tag-list__item t-category c-tag-list__item--green\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/?_practice_area=climate-sustainability\" class=\"c-tag-list__item-link\">Climate &amp; Sustainability<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-tag-list__item t-category c-tag-list__item--orange\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/?_practice_area=health-wellbeing\" class=\"c-tag-list__item-link\">Health &amp; Well-being<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-9bcb33e3 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\" style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-space-between is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-9366075c wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-overline is-style-overline--5\">Related News<\/h2>\n\n\n<div style=\"margin-top:0;\" class=\"wp-block-buttons wp-block-tribe-explore-all-news-button\">\n\t<div class=\"b-explore-news-button wp-block-button is-style-outline tribe-button-has-icon\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\" class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\">Explore all news<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);margin-bottom:0\"\/>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"b-related-news b-related-news--layout-grid aligngrid aligngrid wp-block-acf-related-news\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-news-card\">\n\t<ul class=\"c-tag-list c-news-card__tags\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"c-tag-list__item t-category c-tag-list__item--green\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/?_practice_area=climate-sustainability\" class=\"c-tag-list__item-link\">Climate &amp; 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For earth scientist Josh West, the work is close to home. Filed under Climate &amp; Sustainability Health &amp; Well-being Related News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2114,"template":"","practice":[10,7],"class_list":["post-2113","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>USC professor\u2019s house burned down, now he\u2019s helping victims test their soil - USC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After losing his home to wildfire, a USC professor is leading efforts to help Los Angeles residents test their soil for dangerous lead contamination and other toxic substances at no cost, filling a critical gap left by federal agencies. Learn about this community-driven wildfire recovery initiative.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-professors-house-burned-down-now-hes-helping-victims-test-their-soil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USC professor\u2019s house burned down, now he\u2019s helping victims test their soil - USC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After losing his home to wildfire, a USC professor is leading efforts to help Los Angeles residents test their soil for dangerous lead contamination and other toxic substances at no cost, filling a critical gap left by federal agencies. Learn about this community-driven wildfire recovery initiative.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-professors-house-burned-down-now-hes-helping-victims-test-their-soil\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"USC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-13T23:02:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-professors-house-burned-down-now-hes-helping-victims-test-their-soil\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-professors-house-burned-down-now-hes-helping-victims-test-their-soil\/\",\"name\":\"USC professor\u2019s house burned down, now he\u2019s helping victims test their soil - USC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-professors-house-burned-down-now-hes-helping-victims-test-their-soil\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/news\/usc-professors-house-burned-down-now-hes-helping-victims-test-their-soil\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/public-exchange.org\/usc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/Homes_destroyed_in_the_Palisades_fire_54272193113.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-27T23:31:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T23:02:18+00:00\",\"description\":\"After losing his home to wildfire, a USC professor is leading efforts to help Los Angeles residents test their soil for dangerous lead contamination and other toxic substances at no cost, filling a critical gap left by federal agencies. 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More than 2,500 National Guard personnel have been called up as part of wildfire response efforts and have been providing aerial and ground firefighting support, security and traffic control, and logisitical support in support of state, and federal authorities. 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