California Wildfires

A CalMatters analysis has found that as of 2020, nearly 14 million Californians lived in the sprawling 7-million-acre zone that makes up the wildland urban interface. And when fires sweep through it, they often leave destruction.

School officials are scrambling to find an alternate site for its campus while trying to support families, nearly half of whom lost their homes in the fire.

Citing the LA fires, Trump directed federal agencies to "immediately take actions to override" water operations and environmental rules. But the water mostly serves Central Valley farms.

California passed a set of bills to expedite LA wildfire recovery funds as part of an extended special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom in response to Palisades and Eaton fires.

Some schools destroyed years ago in the Sonoma and Butte fires are just now reopening. The long, expensive process of rebuilding in LA may eat up much of the money voters approved in November for school repairs statewide.

Gardeners, housekeepers and car wash workers living paycheck to paycheck are out of work in Los Angeles County as fires damaged homes and businesses. Their income losses may be permanent.

The LA fires have left domestic workers and day laborers jobless. They may soon be hired for wildfire cleanup work, where they can be exposed to ash and other toxins.

As wildfires rage on in Los Angeles, California lawmakers are rushing to offer ideas for wildfire response and prevention. Few, however, have provided specifics on how they would work — and how the state could afford them.

Key moisture measurements are only 2% to 5% of average, leaving dusty soils. And the recent swing from wet to dry is among the most extreme on record. This combination of climatic conditions crossed into a danger zone, priming much of Southern California for wind-whipped fires.

The fires sweeping across Los Angeles County for the past week have burned more than 50,000 acres, an area roughly equivalent to 2,200 Alcatraz Islands or 500 Disneylands, or larger than Washington, D.C. An arid fall and winter has dried out vegetation after two wetter-than-average years, providing fuel as a windstorm, with hurricane-force gusts topping […]