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ACCORDING TO LIZ - Rather than memorializing the starts of the Eaton and Palisades fires, Angelenos should celebrate the day they were declared officially contained. January 31, 2025.
Deaths and damage to property from these two fires likely made them the second- and third-most destructive fires in California's history.
Fourteen wildfires spawned in SoCal last January, driven by drought conditions, low humidity, a buildup of vegetation from the previous winter, and hurricane-force Santa Ana winds which, in some places, reached 100 miles per hour killed between 31 and 440 people, forced more than 200,000 to evacuate, destroyed more than 18,000 homes and structures, and burned over 57,529 acres.
Fighting these fires was greatly exacerbated by decades-worth of incremental cuts to local and regional fire and emergency services departments’ budgets during which time risks were rapidly rising.
It was shortly after 6 p.m. on January 7, 2025, that residents near Eaton Canyon called 911 reporting flames visible at the base of a nearby electrical tower.
By 7:12 p.m., the fire had grown to at least 200 acres, exacerbated by strong winds causing the fire to rapidly expand and, within six hours, the Eaton Fire had grown to 1,000 acres.
Numerous Southern California plant species – Chaparral Yucca, Manzanita, California Buckwheat, and California Sagebrush – have evolved over millions of years to survive periodic wildfires that ravage local ecosystems. Some native species – the Fire Poppy to clear out competition, and the Coulter Pine of Eaton Canyon to break open their pinecones and release seeds – require regular burn-overs to survive.
And, after 30 years of having no major fires, Eaton Canyon was one of the most fuel-dense areas of the Angeles National Forest.
The canyon acts as a funnel for Santa Ana winds area. Previously in September 1979, the Pinecrest fire burned much of the area in and around Eaton Canyon, and the October 1993 Kinneloa Fire, burgeoning from a small blaze started by a homeless schizophrenic attempting to keep warm, again ravaged much of Eaton Canyon and the surrounding area.
In all three instances, the fires were part of a constellation of Southland fires due to and intensified by drought, high wind events, and human laxness.
Eventually January’s Eaton Fire would scorch over 14,100 acres, damage or destroy more than 7,000 structures, and kill five people.
The Lachman fire, intentionally set in the early hours of January 1 by a troubled former resident of the Pacific Palisades area, had been extinguished by the Los Angeles Fire Department. But strong winds in the early hours of January 7 rekindled the flames which swiftly spread and eventually burned over 37 square miles and killed 12 people.
It was the tenth deadliest and third-most destructive California wildfire on record; the most destructive to occur within the city of Los Angeles.
After eight months without measurable rainfall, the National Weather Service was predicting life-threatening windstorms with major Santa Ana winds gusting to 90 mph in mountainous areas. Winds that would almost certainly down trees and cause widespread power outages: a perfect formula for a major wildfire.
First reported at about 10:30 a.m. as 10 acres burning in mountainous terrain, the fire had ballooned to 1,262 acres by 3 p.m. By the morning of January 8, the fire had expanded to over 5,000 acres and destroyed 1,000 structures with 15,000 more at risk and 37,000 people under evacuation order.
By the morning of January 11, 426 homes had been destroyed, and 105,000 people had left their homes, and evacuation orders spread to Tarzana, Encino and Bel Air.
With steep terrain hindering efforts to contain its spread and winds often grounding firefighting aircraft, the fire grew and grew – 15,832 acres, 17,234 acres, 19,978 acres, peaking at 23,713 acres on January 12.
CAL FIRE's after-report on January 30 said the Palisades Fire destroyed 6,837 structures, including historic and architecturally significant buildings and almost everything in the Pacific Palisades north of Sunset Boulevard.
Smoke and wind-blown ash, which tend not to respect human-delineated city boundaries, caused severe air pollution and health impacts across the Los Angeles basin.
Subsequently toxins, seeping from the structures burnt and chemicals used in suppressing the flames, remained in the air, soil, and water. Endangering residents and workers as they strive to rebuild.
The multiple fires and their destructiveness were not unforeseeable. Climate change exacerbated increased temperatures and volatility in rainfall. Alternating heavy rain and periods of drought let fast-growing grasses and scrub flourish and die, creating tinder for the inevitable fires. Extended dry seasons, stronger winds, diminishing water supplies and tottering infrastructure, fewer safe days for controlled burns, all contributed to mounting dangers.
And for fiscal year 2024–2025, the budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department had been reduced by $17.6 million. On December 4, 2024, LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley pointed out the reduction would “adversely affected the Department's ability to maintain core operations” and the $7 million of that allocated to overtime would “severely limited the Department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies” as well as addressing brush abatement and residential inspections.
Furthermore, corporate concentration has led to snowballing costs for fire trucks coupled with long delays for delivery. Fire departments across the United States are reporting similar difficulties acquiring new equipment, including many that came to SoCal's assistance in fighting these fires.
LADWP’s former chief engineer, Marty Adams, stressed that existing pump-and-storage systems were designed for a fire that might consume several homes, not one that would consume hundreds and could not keep pace with the demand.
Greg Pierce, scientist and a professor at UCLA, emphasized that most City water systems were designed for fighting urban fires, not fast-moving wildfires.
Robert McCullough, an electric utility consultant, underlined that an electric grid originally designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 56 miles per hour in Los Angeles was insufficient in a time of accelerating global warming. He also criticized the City’s inability to shut down power in at-risk neighborhoods when there is a high risk of wildfires.
Pointing fingers never helps; one example being removal of respected LAPD Chief Crowley by the mayor to shift the blame away from the Los Angeles City Council’s strangling of fire prevention and emergency services budgets in recent decades.
For years the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Budget Advocates have been calling for the City government to properly fund the LAFD and the Emergency Management Department for prevention of fires and to have adequate personnel and equipment to fight them. Not to throw money at the problem after the fact.
A UCLA report released following the fires, at the time projected total property and capital losses between $76 billion and $131 billion, and a 0.48% decline in county-level GDP for 2025, amounting to approximately $4.6 billion.
A Realtor.com analysis estimates the fires wiped out an estimated $8.3 billion in property value across the Pacific Palisades and Altadena.
That’s a lot of billions, folks.
Just one billion dollars would make a substantial, a life- and property-saving investment
The UCLA report underscores that without “substantial and effective wildfire mitigation efforts and investments, Californians will face increasingly higher insurance premiums and growing health risks from wildfire-related pollution,” and that “wildfire mitigation investments will be justified, considering the astronomical costs associated with wildfires.”
On the first anniversary of last January’s fires, we must take action so that the holocaust Los Angeles endured will bring a Never Again change to the City and its government.
We must learn from these fires and implement changes now to prevent future devastation instead of allowing the Mayor and City Council to talk the issues to death and continuing to divert funds to electability projects.
If they won’t do it on their own, an uprising of Angelenos - as individuals and through the Neighborhood Council system - must put our elected officials’ feet... to the fire.
People can find information and links to help themselves prepare for compounding hazard events in the Los Angeles Climate Mobilization Office’s September newsletter.
(Liz Amsden is a former Angeleno now living in Vermont and a regular CityWatch contributor. She writes on issues she’s passionate about, including social justice, government accountability, and community empowerment. Liz brings a sharp, activist voice to her commentary and continues to engage with Los Angeles civic affairs from afar. She can be reached at [email protected].)
