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SYSTEM FAILURE (Part 3) - Sierra Madre — Seven months after the Eaton Fire contaminated their canyon home with airborne metals, Derek and Valerie Sample remain displaced, uninsured, and under threat.
This week, Allstate notified them that it plans to return their entire household contents—furniture, clothing, electronics, appliances—back into a home that has been formally declared uninhabitable by the County of Los Angeles.
The metals are still present.
The remediation is still undone.
The medical warnings are still active.
Valerie is undergoing Stage 3 cancer treatment. Derek suffers from Crohn’s and adult-onset asthma. Their two dogs nearly died of pneumonia after the fire. The couple has been living out of hotels since January. Allstate has denied their dwelling claim, denied their personal property claim, and is now cutting off their temporary housing benefits months ahead of schedule.
This isn’t just abandonment. This is a return delivery of toxic material into a known hazardous environment—with instructions to bill the victims for the storage.
That’s why this column is not just a story. It’s a Help Wanted ad.
The position: Legal Representation for the Contaminated and Abandoned.
The clients: Derek and Valerie Sample, Sierra Madre homeowners.
The urgency: Immediate.
The duration: Until Allstate pays, or a judge makes them.
In January 2025, the Eaton Fire blew 130 mph winds through Little Santa Anita Canyon. Derek and Valerie’s home was not touched by flame, but choked by fallout—lead, chromium, cadmium, nickel, platinum, zinc. Independent testing showed contamination levels ten to one thousand times above health limits. The couple was forced out. Their belongings were packed by remediation crews.
No payments have been made for the contents.
No payments have been made for rebuilding.
No remediation has been approved.
Now, Allstate wants it all back in the house. Or dumped into private storage—at Derek’s expense.
What they need now is representation—legal action to stop Allstate’s plan to return hazardous materials to a contaminated structure. A swift injunction to prevent re-delivery or unlawful transfer of toxic property. Enforcement of temporary housing benefits and medical hardship exemptions under California law. Someone to file public health complaints, explore toxic tort options, and coordinate with the County and the Department of Insurance.
They have the evidence: certified metals reports, signed medical letters from oncologists and surgeons, confirmation of soil contamination from LA County, correspondence from Allstate, defamation of a state-appointed hygienist, a clear timeline of delays and retaliation after a congressional inquiry, photos, video, receipts, and remediation estimates. All of it is documented.
Compensation is available. Contingency fees. Legal billing upon settlement or judgment. And for the right attorney, the opportunity to be the one who finally forced California to stop ignoring the slow-motion assault on wildfire survivors.
If you are that lawyer—or know someone who is—email [email protected] or contact the Department of Insurance and demand immediate enforcement.
Because if a cancer patient, her husband, and their two dogs can’t get justice after paying premiums for thirty years, then the contract between Californians and the companies that insure them is not just broken.
It’s radioactive.
And the people responsible are already trying to dump it on someone else’s doorstep.
(Eric Preven is a Studio City-based television writer-producer, award-winning journalist, and longtime community activist. He is known for his sharp commentary on transparency and accountability in local government. Eric successfully brought and won two landmark open government cases in California, reinforcing the public’s right to know. A regular contributor to CityWatch, he combines investigative insight with grassroots advocacy to shine a light on civic issues across Los Angeles.)
