TThousands of people – firefighters, first responders and the National Guard – have focused on smothering Los Angeles’ catastrophic wildfires, among the worst California has ever seen.
The Palisades and Eaton fires, which have continued to burn since they were first detected ten days ago, have destroyed 12,000 structures, killing at least 27 people and torching nearly 40,000 acres of land (including damage caused by smaller fires, now extinguished). ). These fires are the second and fourth most destructive in state history.
While experts say the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in California is slightly similar to the Los Angeles fires in terms of destruction, the Los Angeles fires stand out from others due to their rapid rate of spread and the fact that This is an urban fire, referring to a fire that spreads from structure to structure, with buildings and houses acting as the main fuel source instead of trees.
“Downwind, embers are carried more than a mile from the fire itself, raining down by the thousands and thousands on homes and neighborhoods, igniting anything flammable,” said Daniel Berlant, marshal of the fire. State of California. The August 2020 Complex Fire in Northern California, for example, burned more than 1 million acres but damaged only 935 structures. The Dixie Fire of 2021, also in the North, caused similar damage and damaged just over 1,3000 structures. To date, these are the two largest wildfires in California, according to CalFire.
The Dixie and August Complex fires occurred during the regular wildfire season, which typically runs from spring to fall, according to the Western Fire Chiefs Association. But things have changed in the past year as climate change has made wildfires a year-round threat that fuels fires when they occur. “In less than a decade, California has experienced its largest, most devastating and deadliest wildfires,” Berlant says. “Our dry matter and our climate have always naturally lent themselves to wildfires, but actually, more recently, I would say a confluence of issues has led to this immense wildfire crisis. Climate change is one of them. The most recent fires likely spread so quickly due to the lack of precipitation in Southern California and Santa Ana winds measuring more than 80 miles per hour.
The state has deployed aid to firefighters in recent years. In 2024, CalFire received an additional $2 billion, an investment that increased its budget by 47% compared to 2018. Berlant says this aid doubled the number of people working for Cal Fire. Officers focused on three main areas: firefighting, community preparedness and forest restoration work. The Palisades and Eaton Fire are 31% and 65% contained, respectively, as of Friday, although winds are expected to strengthen next week, which could knock out containment.
U.S. Fire Service Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell says that while the number of deaths from the recent Los Angeles fires is not yet clear, more lives could have been lost if officials did not had not already been wary of the weather conditions which put them on alert. “We anticipated the Santa Ana winds, the other variables, like drought. So there was a lot of expectation that if an ignition happened, it would be bad,” she says. “This triggered early evacuation alerts and people listened. And that’s why we don’t yet see the death toll increasing astronomically, as we saw, for example, in the Burning of Paradise, or in the [2023] Lahaina Maui Fire. (Paradise is the nickname for the 2018 Camp Fire.) Moore-Merrell admits, however, that there are lessons to be learned about the proper messaging mechanism for evacuation orders and what steps to take to avoid traffic jams like those -there. reported at the start of the fires.
For now, state officials continue to replenish the budget needed to fight these fires. On January 13, California Governor Gavin Newsom called for a $2.5 billion increase in state funding for emergency response and recovery efforts in Los Angeles. That money would help rebuild schools and increase preparedness for future threats, which firefighters say is necessary given the situation. latest trends. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has implemented relief measures for affected residents, providing a $770 stipend for families to purchase essential items. Victims can request other forms of disaster assistance. They have also opened local support centers to help those who need it most. FEMA did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment.
Yet even though California wildfires are a natural part of the landscape, the threat of urban fires also extends beyond the state. Moore-Merrell says this is the third case of an urban fire under the Biden administration. The other two were the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado, which burned more than 6,000 acres and 1,000 homes in Boulder County, and the August 2023 Lahaina Fire in Maui, which burned more than 100 deaths and cost approximately $5.5 billion in damages. The Maui fire is the fifth deadliest wildfire in U.S. history, destroying neighborhoods and historic landmarks. “We’re seeing a change in the baseline risk of wildfires across the country,” she said.
