Southern California witnessed two of its most destructive fire episodes in its history last week.
A total of 164 10+ acre wildfires spanning over more than 40,000 acres destroyed nearly 13,000 structures, including houses, offices, and garages, according to CalFire. Among these wildfires, the most destructive and extensive one is certainly the Palisades wildfire, covering an area of 23,713 acres as of Thursday, January 16, with only 22% contained.
Palisades fire
The true origins of the devastating series of windswept fires are yet to be uncovered by the fire officials. Just a week before the initial wildfire in Palisades on New Year’s Day, the area witnessed an eight-acre wildfire ignited by fireworks. The Los Angeles Fire Department swiftly responded and contained the fire.
Cal Fire has previously warned the residents that distinguished wildfires can reignite; however, it is unclear whether the blazes that have burnt thousands of structures since January 7 were connected to the new year’s wildfire. LAPD Assistant Chief Dominic Choi said on Monday that the main cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and it is not to be speculated that the fire might have been reignited from the remnants of the New Year’s bushfire.
As of January 16, ten people have lost their lives in the Palisades fire.
Eaton fire
Displaced residents in Eaton believe Southern California Edison, a power company in Southern California, is to be blamed. The Eaton fire, deadlier than the Palisades, has destroyed more than 7000 structures and grown to almost 14000 acres and killed 17 people. The traumatised residents have filed multiple lawsuits against the parent company of Edison, Edison International, as they believe that Edison’s utility equipment has played a role in Eaton’s wildfire. So far Edison International has received four lawsuits, all accusing it of igniting the fire. According to Fox Business, the lawsuits cited evidence from first hand witnesses showing fire at one of the transmission bases owned by SCE. In the footage provided at the Los Angeles Superior Court, the small flames quickly turn into an inferno by the Santa Ana winds. The lawsuits also accused SCE power lines of being still energised after the wildfires, which SCE has denied.
Ever since the lawsuits, Edison International shares have dropped by 12%.
Hurst fire
The Hurst fire in the Sylmar area has burnt an area of 800 acres since January 7. Residents in the area reported a loud electrical explosion at 10 p.m. local time, and minutes later the police asked the hillside residents to evacuate their houses. Southern California Edison released a statement on their news website that a downed powerline associated with one of their towers was discovered at the scene. The Los Angeles Fire Department and other authorities have not yet confirmed whether defective SCE equipment caused this fire as well.
The SCE is alleged to be the cause of the Eaton and Hurst wildfires and has filed an Electric Safety Incident Report (ESIR). Utilities file an Electric Safety Incident Report (ESIR) to document significant incidents involving their electrical systems. These reports provide detailed information that may suggest a potential link between the utility’s infrastructure and the incident, even when the exact cause remains under investigation.
Arson arrests amid L.A. fires
On Wednesday, Chief Jim McDonnell of the LAPD told the press they have arrested two arson suspects. Officers first responded to a radio call to apprehend an arson suspect who ignited a fire because he “liked the smell of burning leaves.”. At the scene the suspect was already arrested by a citizen, and the bushes were distinguished.
Later that day, LAFD responded to another distress call of a person setting trash cans on fire. The flames were quickly contained, and the suspect was detained by the police. The suspect later admitted that his motivation to start the fires was that he “enjoyed creating chaos and destruction.”.
How did the fires grow
The Santa Ana winds are dry and strong winds that affect almost all of coastal Southern California. These winds occur 10 to 25 times each year, with most of the events taking place in autumn. They are famous for the hot, dry weather they bring in autumn and the low humidity rate they bring to coastal Southern California.
The low humidity and strong winds of Santa Ana create perfect conditions for windswept wildfires to expand and cover thousands of acres in a short period of time. The Santa Ana wind event can last for more than three days, and Los Angeles County is one of the common places to be damaged by the high-speed, strong winds. One of the major drivers of wildfires in that area is the Santa Ana winds.
The exceptionally intense speed of the winds this January was comparable to a Category 1 hurricane, reaching a staggering 130 km/h (80 miles) in some areas.
This time of the year is known as the water year for California; however, as the Southern regions did not receive enough rain, this dry condition did not just leave the vegetation not moisturized but created the perfect circumstances for the Santa Ana winds to sweep down the mountain and create a firestorm. In this dry condition, the embers could quickly spread through the dry vegetation one after another with the help of the powerful winds and cover massive areas in a matter of hours.
It becomes extremely hard to extinguish fire in these conditions, making it even more difficult for aerial firefighting as the powerful winds deviate fire retardants.
Global warming and its impacts on the fires
According to the rapid research by UCLA, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 were unusually wet years, which led to the build-up of abnormal vegetation in the Los Angeles area. This led to the hillside area entering the fall fire season (after the dry summer) of 2024 with excessive amounts of greenery. The dry vegetation would then act as a fire spreader. While climate change can lead to unusual wet seasons, in this case the wintertime river storms in California, by containing abnormal amounts of water vapour in the earth’s atmosphere, which ultimately leads to precipitation, scientists at UCLA say that at this time there is not enough time to back up the hypothesis that global warming directly caused the fires, but the warm seasons of summer and autumn of 2024 are the clearest way global warming has intensified the fires, the scientists noted.
When the moisture evaporates from the vegetation at the end of the dry season, it creates a perfect condition for the wildfires to feed on grass and chaparral vegetation to grow. This trend, however, should end by the start of the wet season in late autumn/early winter, where there is a high amount of precipitation. Los Angeles is expected to receive precipitation in late October to early December; last year, however, the region did not receive a significant amount of rain to compensate for the dry summer of 2024.
All of these factors created the perfect condition for the last piece of the disaster, the Santa Ana winds that grew the fire into thousands of acres and created the most devastating wildfires in Southern California.
Emergency management and criticism
In 2024 the LAFD received a $17 million budget cut from Mayor Karen Bass. LAFD chief Kristen Crowley said in a report in December that the budget cut may impact the department’s operational capability. Since the fires started, Mayor Bass has received numerous calls to step down and resign from her position.
Chief Crowley has also received criticism over the department’s pre-employment strategy. An LA Times article accused the LAFD of not putting crew and fire engines in emergency areas before the fires started to grow and that many of the crew members on duty the day before the initial breakout were not kept. LAFD defended their pre-employment strategy by saying that the department couldn’t predict where a major fire would break out, and since high-speed wind would spread the fire rapidly, the LAFD deployment was not concentrated in only certain areas. The harsh weather conditions and the loss of pressure and dryness of fire hydrants also contributed to the ineffectiveness of initial responses. LAFD and other authorities evacuated more than 100,000 people from their residences since the fires began.
The Los Angeles Sheriff Department has arrested at least 39 people who committed crimes against disaster victims. As of today, vacant stores are one of the top concerns in the wildfire areas. The National Guard is also deployed to deter looters in these areas.
Out of state and international assistance
President Biden ordered the Department of Defense to allocate more equipment and personnel to fight the fires in california.
Canada has extended significant assistance to combat the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles by deploying 60 firefighters, two water bombers from Ontario, and two CL-415 water bomber aircraft from Quebec, supplementing existing resources under contract with the LA County Fire Department. Additionally, Ontario contributed 165 urban firefighters and an incident management team, while British Columbia and Alberta provided water bombers, night-vision helicopters, and incident command teams. This collaborative effort highlights Canada’s commitment to international disaster response and support.
In response to the devastating wildfires in Southern California, Mexico dispatched a humanitarian team of over 70 firefighters to Los Angeles on January 11, 2025. Upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport, they were welcomed by Governor Gavin Newsom, who expressed gratitude to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for the support. Initially assigned to the Eaton Fire in Altadena, the team was redirected to assist with the spreading Palisades Fire near Brentwood. This deployment underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing natural disasters.
Economic impacts
The series of January wildfires is arguably the costliest disaster in California’s history. J.P. Morgan analysts speculate that the insured losses are nearly $20 billion. Wells Fargo claims that the economic loss of the disaster can be as near as $60 billion.
AccuWeather estimates the economic damage can range from $130 billion to $150 billion.
Written by Mohammad Amin
