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Community-led rebuilding after the LA wildfires

Nature Sustainability volume 8, page 326 (2025)Cite this article

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The LA wildfires of January 2025 — which as of 28 January 2025 have destroyed 16,255 structures and damaged another 2,090 — include the second and third most destructive wildfires in California history1. The destruction of these structures — mostly homes — has caused incalculable loss beyond the economic damages. It is impossible to quantify the loss of community and sense of place, and the impacts of displacement, on the people whose homes were destroyed. In the two most destructive of these fires, the Palisades and the Eaton incidents, the age of structures and their proximity to one another as well as combustibles between and around structures are common factors contributing to the destructiveness of the fires.

There were nearly 88,000 residential structures in the perimeters of the Palisades and Eaton fires combined, according to CAL FIRE’s incident data. Census data show that only 5% of homes were newer builds required to comply with wildfire-resistance provisions of the California Building Code. Not only were there relatively few homes built to the current code, but more than two-thirds of exposed structures were older than 55 years. Of nearly 47,000 structures in the Palisades fire perimeter, 15% were destroyed. In the Eaton Fire, 23% of just over 41,000 structures within the perimeter were completely burned.

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References

  1. Current emergency incidents. Ongoing emergency responses in California, including all 10+ acre wildfires (CAL FIRE, accessed 30 Jan 2025); https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Regional Climate Center, DRI, Reno, NV, USA

    Tamara Wall

  2. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Quincy, MA, USA

    Michele Steinberg

  3. Napa County, CA, USA

    David Shew

Authors
  1. Tamara Wall
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  2. Michele Steinberg
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  3. David Shew
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Correspondence to Tamara Wall.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Cite this article

Wall, T., Steinberg, M. & Shew, D. Community-led rebuilding after the LA wildfires. Nat Sustain 8, 326 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01531-x

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