Bringing Soil Back to Life

If your property was damaged or destroyed in a wildfire, the soil beneath your feet may still be carrying the toxic legacy of the burn.

We offer ecological remediation services that work with living systems—not against them.

Biological remediation uses regenerative, microbe-based techniques to detoxify and rebuild the health of fire-damaged soil. This isn’t about masking contamination, it’s about transforming it at the chemical level.

What We Do

The fire left behind more than ash. It altered the soil—chemically, structurally, biologically. We work with the land to help it recover, using beneficial microorganisms and organic matter to restore balance and safety.

Soil Testing

We start with soil testing, targeting heavy metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—the usual residues left behind after residential fires. Testing should happen after the neighborhood has completed Phase 1 (hazardous material removal by the EPA) and Phase 2 (structural debris removal by the Army Corps of Engineers).

We handle the sampling, coordinate with the lab, and walk you through the results. Then we design a remediation plan specific to your site.

Soil Remediation

There are three main steps we follow. They’re simple in concept, detailed in execution:

Toxin Flushing
This is about getting contaminants moving—out of the soil, through biological flushing methods. This may involve microbial processes that help mobilize or break down organic contaminants, making them easier to stabilize or remove.

Biological Inoculation
Once the soil’s been cleared, we inoculate it with a targeted blend of beneficial microbes. These soil organisms don’t just “live” in the soil—they go to work in it. Using pollutants as a food source, microbes break down harmful compounds like petroleum hydrocarbons and solvents through enzymatic digestion, converting them into harmless byproducts like carbon dioxide, water, and microbial biomass.

In cases involving heavy metals, microbial activity helps bind or immobilize contaminants so they can’t leach, move, or be absorbed by plants.

Composting
We use real, high-quality, farm-made compost. Compost introduces structure, nutrients, and long-term resilience to the soil. Over time, you’ll need less of it. Compost doesn’t just feed plants—it feeds microbes. And when those microbes thrive, they drive the chemical transformations that restore soil health.

These methods don’t remove every contaminant from the site, but they do something just as important: they chemically transform or stabilize toxins. In the case of heavy metals, biological processes bind and immobilize them so they’re no longer biologically available. That means these compounds become inert—they can’t be absorbed by plants, carried by water, or breathed in as dust.

When the soil food web is active and supported, the land becomes safer, healthier, and ready to grow again.

Planting

Plants are collaborators in the remediation process. Through their roots, they feed the microbes that detoxify and structure the soil. We install plantings that support this relationship.

We can re-vegetate with natives, build out edible gardens, or help establish small orchards. We think about the root zone as much as the view from your window.

Maintenance

Soil recovery doesn’t end once it looks green again. We offer maintenance guidelines that are rooted in biology: seasonal inoculations, composting, organic foliar sprays, and adaptive care depending on what the soil is asking for.

Re-Testing

After the first cycle of remediation, we test again. Sometimes it tells us we’re done. Sometimes it tells us to go a little deeper. Either way, it closes the loop and gives you—and the land—clarity.