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At the end of the collection week, our editor drove the samples to BSK Associates, a state-certified environmental testing laboratory that tested soil on behalf of the government following the 2018 Camp fire and 2024 Mountain, Park and Borel fires.

In August, Lara issued a similar bulletin shielding more than 185,000 policyholders affected by the Park, Borel and Gold Complex fires in Kern County and Northern California.

Helicopters also were released from the Borel fire in the Sequoia National Forest the night of July 28, even though they had hours of flight time left, he said.

Nearly three weeks after the blaze, it was a sliver of silver lining for Gonzales, who like most of Havilah’s 150 residents is trying to plot a path forward after the Borel fire burned the historic mining town to its foundations.

The majority have been small, while a few such as Borel have exploded and forced thousands of people to evacuate.