California Wildfires

On January 7th, California’s powerful winds mixed with dry conditions created the perfect conditions for a wildfire to ignite around the Los Angeles area, specifically the Palisades and Eaton.

The Palisades Fire ignited in the early morning of January 7th, as a brush fire according to NBC News. Eventually, the brush fire engulfed 23,448 acres of land and destroyed more than 5,000 buildings in its path (NBC News). Regardless of firefighters’ greatest efforts, the fires began to spread throughout the Los Angeles area; only hours after the Palisades Fire ignited, the Eaton Fire was set ablaze, covering 14,021 acres and damaged more than 10,000 structures according to NBC News.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles County officials have confirmed that the fires took the lives of 29 people. The Los Angeles medical examiner’s office claims that the Eaton Fire caused least 17 deaths while the Palisades Fire caused the other 12 deaths; however, the medical examiner’s office asserted that it could take weeks to verify the identities of the victims.

Recently, California’s department of forestry and fire protection announced that the Palisades and Eaton Fires have been contained completely, three weeks after the fires initially went ablaze. Even though the fires are no longer raging throughout Southern California, Los Angeles must rebuild its cities; however, the Los Angeles Times claims that the total economic loss and expected damage to be between $250 billion and $275 billion according to AccuWeather, a forecasting service. The cost of repercussions makes the natural disaster one of the worst in the history of the United States (Los Angeles Times).

Yet, the initial cause of the fires remains unclear. However, drought-like conditions are one of the main factors as Southern California “has had less than 10% of average rainfall since Oct. 1” (NBC News). Mix these conditions with powerful offshore winds, and you have perfect conditions to start a fire. Daniel Swain, a climate scientist, brought attention to California’s weather in recent years that was highlighted by drought or heavy rainfall, both of which “are a key element of the fire weather gripping the region” (NBC News). Swain additionally asserts that even though the warming climate results in drier conditions, the constantly varying weather in the state creates a risk in the Southern California area. Climate change, an issue affecting the world severely, may be a factor for the fires, but it is unclear to say if the changes in the ever-changing environment played a vital role in the blaze. Recent studies find that climate change worsens already extreme conditions such as those that had started the fires in California (NPR). Human activity is also a factor that led to the Palisades and Eaton Fires as “there were no lightning storms at the time that would have sparked the fires” (NPR). UCLA’s director of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Alex Hall, claims that the “ignitions were undoubtedly due to human activity” (NPR).

The Palisades and Eaton Fires have affected almost 200,000 people and many people lost their homes and business. There are multiple resources that we can use to support those in California. This website provides links to donation centers that are working to help those affected by the natural disaster. Through our donations, we can help Los Angeles build up the beautiful city it used to be, along with providing California residents with hope for the future.  

SOURCES:  

California wildfires: What we know about L.A.-area fires, what caused them, who is affected and more 

Estimated cost of fire damage balloons to more than $250 billion 

Los Angeles’ Palisades and Eaton wildfires are now fully contained 

Here's how climate change fueled the Los Angeles fires