Robinson did not leave her home following the fires, staying put with her husband, daughter and birds, including two cockatoos. Since then, she’s been plagued by anxiety and headaches, and her husband’s asthma has worsened. She worries their property has been contaminated by chemicals falling out of the smoke. Volunteers took surface swipe samples from places beneath the fire’s smoke plume, had them tested and found elevated levels of lithium, cobalt, manganese and nickel.