On Tuesday, Jan. 7, a fire erupted in the Pacific Palisades area, the first in a series of several deadly wildfires that ravaged southern California for nearly a month. The two most destructive wildfires, Eaton and Palisades, were contained on Jan. 31. The fires scorched over 37,000 acres of land, and over 16,000 structures were destroyed. As of mid-March, 29 people have been confirmed dead.
While the exact causes of these wildfires are under active investigation, there’s a consensus that a combination of a historic drought in the Los Angeles area and strong Santa Ana winds fueled the destructiveness of the wildfires. The Los Angeles metro area received 0.16 inches of rain from May 6 to Dec. 31, the second driest seven-month stretch in its recorded history, according to the National Weather Service. The Santa Ana winds are most common during the cooler months of the year. They are dry, warm winds that flow westward through southern Californian mountain passages. The 60-70 mph winds significantly increased the speed the fires spread, hindering the Los Angeles Fire Department’s ability to contain them.
Many climate scientists believe that climate change also played a role in the severity of the fires. A recent UCLA study found that there is evidence of climate change exacerbating already extreme conditions.
“The ignitions were undoubtedly due to human activity,” Alex Hall, Director of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA said. “So fundamentally, I think these fires are anthropogenic. They are human-created. We have to take the prevention of ignitions a lot more seriously, especially when we know that there’s going to be a very dangerous Santa Ana wind event.”
Donations are the most direct way for non-locals to provide support to the victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. The California Fire Foundation and the L.A. Fire Department Foundation support first responders and their families, The American Red Cross of Greater Los Angeles focuses on giving humanitarian aid and Direct Relief and Center for Disaster Philanthropy fund the local communities devastated by the fires.
Los Angeles now faces the tough task of rebuilding after one of the most destructive disasters in recent history. The wildfires caused over $250 billion in damages and economic losses according to an Accuweather estimate, which would make it the costliest disaster in U.S. history, eclipsing the previous record holder, hurricane Katrina, by over $50 billion.
Of the over $250 billion in losses only an estimated $75 billion was insured, according to a UCLA estimate. In the past, communities devastated by disasters could rely on aid from the federal government, but President Donald Trump and Congress have not yet made any major commitments to provide fire relief. Days before visiting Los Angeles, President Donald Trump spoke about withholding government aid in a Fox News interview.
“I don’t think we should give California anything until they let the water run down,” Trump said. “I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom has recently requested $40 billion in funding from the federal government to help those affected by the January wildfires.
“I’m asking Congress to have the back of the American people and provide disaster funding to help Californians recover and rebuild as soon as possible,” Newsom said in a post on X.
While Newsom’s request has garnered support from representatives of the affected areas, it’s unclear how the Republican-controlled congress will react. Until then, the future of those impacted by the fires remains uncertain, especially for Latino and other underserved communities which were hit the hardest, according to a UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute brief.
“These findings show that wildfires exacerbate long-standing inequities, not just for Latinos, but for all underserved communities in Los Angeles County,” Chhandara Pech, Deputy Director of the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, said.
