Just a few weeks ago, Southern California celebrated the start of a New Year with high spirits and euphoria. But, on the morning of Jan. 7, 2025, chaos began. Close to the Temescal Ridge trail located in the Topanga State Park, the air turned thick with smoke. The sky was an eerie shade of orange. Flames raced across the hillsides in Topanga and the Altadena hills, devouring everything in their path. Fuel of all kinds was rapidly consumed, leaving only blackened earth behind. Streets once filled with people were ominously quiet and uninhabited as fearful families evacuated in desperation. Some would go on to describe it as apocalyptic.
Between 250 and 275 billion dollars: This is the estimated damage and economic loss of the Jan. 2025 LA fires making them the costliest natural disaster in US history, surpassing Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Around 15,000 structures were destroyed or damaged by the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County. The fires are almost fully contained, but their flames already caused widespread devastation, and Angelenos are still at an early stage of assessing the true scale of the impacts.
With the severity of the losses, investigations have become very serious from county to state and federal levels. These investigations are ongoing but three main issues have arisen: Neglected power lines owned by SoCal Edison; fireworks; and arsonists. It may take several months before official causes are determined for each fire.
Various residents in the Altadena area have already filed lawsuits against SoCal Edison alleging that the Eaton fire was started by the company’s electrical equipment. SoCal Edison is an electric utility company that provides electricity to Central, Coastal, and Southern California. These lawsuits claimed that sparks from neglected power lines were the ignition source. Suspicions about poor management of electrical infrastructure run high, given the other wildfire scandals that have engulfed Pacific Gas & Electric in Northern California.
New Year’s celebrations were in full force days before the dawn of 2025. An investigation has centered on a potential crime scene located in the Topanga mountains just above the Palisades’ residential areas. This site experienced a small fire on New Year’s Eve caused by fireworks. This fire was declared extinguished after five hours by the local fire department. According to some experts, the fire may have left embers that later ignited into the larger Palisades fire. This theory is currently under investigation by state and federal authorities.
Police Investigations are also exploring the possibility of a deliberate ignition, considering the rapid spread and multiple points of origin of the fires. However, there is no conclusive evidence to confirm this theory. An arrest was made on Jan. 9 in West Hills on suspicion of arson in connection with the Kenneth Fire. A man was carrying a blowtorch around residential homes but was deemed not guilty and released with a misdemeanor conviction.
While the fires burned, some individuals took advantage of the chaos, looting wealthy homes in the Hollywood Hills during the Sunset Fire.
Over the past decade, California has experienced historic drought conditions, which have resulted in water-restricting policies. While the past 2 winters have provided up to 52 inches of rain, 2025 has been off to a record-dry start.
During the 15 hour window from the Palisades fire sparking and the availability of water tankers running dry, Janisse Quiñones, CEO of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said one of 3 million-gallon tankers available to fill neighborhood’s hydrants had been bled dry.
However, some experts say this failure isn’t easily pinned on a distinct issue, but instead, it’s the foreseeable result of a system that was never ready for the climate change-fueled fires we now face in urban areas.
High Wind Alert Warnings were issued four days before the eruption of these LA fires. What did the fire departments do with this information? The Los Angeles Fire Department issued multiple pre-deploys throughout the high risk zones within the LA area. LAFD staffed all available extra engines and staged more than two dozen engines in high-risk fire areas across North L.A. County and Ventura
County in preparation for the red flag warning from Jan. 19 to 25. Regardless of the arrangements, these deployments were clearly inadequate. However, it is possible that given the hurricane-force winds above 60 mph, no amount of LAFD readiness could have prevented this.
Public Knowledge and ‘Containment’ Confusion
When fighting any large natural disaster, the public should be aware and vigilant at all times. With so many terms and phrases, there is a risk of misinterpretation, which can create a false sense of hope or safety.
The term ‘containment’ in the context of a wildfire refers to the establishment of a perimeter around the fire and the fire crew’s assessment of their positioning to prevent it from spreading. As of Jan. 27, 2025, the Palisades fire is 95% contained, meaning firefighting crews have successfully established a perimeter that is holding 95% of the fire’s border. So just 5% of the Palisades fire is still uncontrolled and uncontained.
Southern California residents are accustomed to ‘fire season’ drama. Most people find trusted sources of news feed and coverage to watch and track wildfires in proximity to their local communities and neighborhoods. CALFIRE and Watch Duty are the most popular and downloaded apps in the region.
Cal Fire was created by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.This government-based organization provides incident information and educational content on the preparation for wildfires.
John Clarke Mills, a tech entrepreneur, launched the Watch Duty app and website as a non-profit venture in 2021. He noticed that there was not a reliable way to get all the wildfire updates we needed in one place. The Watch Duty app now works with government agencies to assemble everything from evacuation notices to fire perimeter maps and wind direction data. This keeps regular civilians informed in real time. 
Over the past few weeks, Southern California residents have experienced hurricane-force winds driving these uncontrollable fires. Is it possible for humans to truly fight such overwhelming forces of nature? It seems these fires are simply too powerful to be fully controlled, yet the Santa Ana winds have been a persistent challenge for centuries. This leaves the volatile behavior of humans and their actions. Are our actions exacerbating the impacts of these fires?
