‘Toxic soup’ lingers in clear skies

Kyi (left) and graduate researcher Anna Neville, both at the University of Texas at Austin, visiting a burn zone in Altadena, California. — Mark Abramson/The New York Times

ON a Sunday in February, a white Ford van zigzagged through the fire-ravaged neighbourhood of Altadena, California.

Ash piles lined front yards. Charred washing machines sat on bare concrete foundations.