At 10:30 a.m. on Jan 7, the Palisades fire began in Los Angeles. It was the first of many wildfires to sweep through California in the past month. As of now, the fire has burned over 23,000 acres of land in the Palisades, Malibu and the surrounding areas. Many celebrities who live in Malibu have lost their homes and others, including Mark Hammil and Eugene Levy, were a part of the 130,000 people forced to evacuate the Palisades.

It is estimated that over 6,000 homes and businesses have been burned in the Palisades fire alone. Strong winds from the Great Basin and Mojave desert, called the Santa Ana’s, created unsafe flying conditions which made helicopters slow to respond to the Palisades fire. Thanks to the Santa Ana’s, the Palisades fire has spread incredibly far and incredibly quickly, and is set to keep ravaging the area. Thankfully, conditions have lightened recently, and firefighters were able to resume helicopter use to drop water and Phos-Check — a common fire retardant. 

Many counties had to enforce strict curfews for those who chose not to evacuate to prevent looting. Looting is unfortunately common during wildfires, because thieves take advantage of the empty and evacuated homes to steal valuables. 

The Eaton fire started shortly after the Palisades fire at 6:18 p.m. on January 7. Since then, it has burned a total of 14,000 acres and has greatly contributed to the death toll of both of these wildfires, which currently sits at a gruesome 29 deaths.  The Eaton fire has affected mainly the Altadena and Pasadena areas, burning approximately 12,000 buildings. 

Poor air quality and fire embers have contaminated the drinking water in Altadena evacuation zones, and a statement was recently released for local residents warning them to only drink bottled water. Many electrical companies have shut off the power to homes in hopes of preventing more fires from starting. More than 100,000 people had to evacuate because of the Eaton fire, and thankfully better fire control has allowed people to slowly return to their homes. 

Containment is measured as  a percentage that represents the amount of  the fire that has been cut off from spreading. When a fire reaches 100% containment, it doesn’t mean that it has stopped burning, just that it has stopped spreading. As of Jan 31, the Eaton fire and the Palisades fire reached 100% containment three weeks after the fires started.

Five schools in the Pasadena Unified School District have been severely damaged because of the Eaton fire, displacing many students. Since Jan 8, schools have been shut down in the district because of the fire’s spread, and will remain closed even longer because of the extensive cleaning needed afterwards to make local schools safe again. The district has created a plan that reopens schools in phases, and is optimistic that all schools will be reopened soon.

In an effort to help those who lost their homes, AirBnB has recently partnered with LA 211, a nonprofit working to provide care and services to the Los Angeles community, and now people who have evacuated are able to stay in an AirBnB for one week free of charge. Like AirBnB, The Queen Mary cruise ship is also offering rooms at a discounted price for those who had to evacuate. 

While the search for the cause of these wildfires continues, many are blaming climate change.

California’s ongoing drought and dry brush foliage is the perfect environment for wildfires to spark. Climate change has worsened the lack of rain, making local land and plants incredibly flammable. 

According to the BBC, “Scientists say in a new study that climate change has boosted what they call these “whiplash” conditions globally by 31-66% since the middle of the 20th century.” 

When rain follows wildfires, it can cause mudslides because the vegetation which held the soil together with its roots is burnt away.. These resulting mudslides can be even more fatal than a wildfire, as they often happen without warning. 

California is now suing ExxonMobil for their contribution to climate change because the company continuously lied to customers, promising the plastics they used would be recyclable when in fact that was not true. California believes that the actions of this company helped fuel the fire indirectly through their unsustainable practices.