By Tess Patton

When Erica Simpson returned to her Paliskates skate shop four months after it was destroyed by the Palisades wildfires, little progress had been made in clearing her lot.

Caution tape warning of asbestos lined the perimeter of the building; a sign declaring the property had passed its hazardous materials removal was perched outside. The rest of the building looked similar to what Simpson had seen just one day after the fires ravaged her neighborhood in January.