A recap of the Los Angeles fires

Thousands left displaced and grieving as wildfires continue to ravage L.A.

Author’s Note: The statistics present in this article are subject to change as the fires progress and/or become further contained. For up-to-date information, please visit the Los Angeles Times California Fire Map (https://www.latimes.com/wildfires-map/).

 

For nearly two weeks, Los Angeles has been reeling from the ongoing devastation of a mass collection of wildfires. Beginning on January 7, 2025, reports were made of wildfires within multiple L.A. neighbourhoods, namely Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst, among others. Although it is at this point undetermined how these fires began, dry, drought-like conditions, as well as excessive wind force created the optimal conditions for these fires to spread. According to the Los Angeles Times California Fire Map, there have reportedly been up to 30 separate fires of various sizes within the L.A. region, as the flames spread uncontrollably across the area. At this point, only two remain burning, the Palisades and Eaton fires respectively. Private forecasters are suggesting this may be the most expensive natural disaster the U.S. has ever seen, estimating damages to be somewhere in the vicinity of 250–275 billion dollars. These fires have impacted affluent neighbourhoods, with countless celebrities losing their homes, but it is also important to reflect upon the already pre-existing housing crisis in the LA area, and how the middle- and lower-class communities will be able to recover after such devastating loss.

At the time of writing, over 12,000 structures, such as homes and schools, have been destroyed within the Eaton region, and both the Palisades and Eaton fires have engulfed 38,600 acres combined. The Palisades fire is currently 45 percent contained, while the Eaton fire is 65 percent contained. 27 people have unfortunately died as a result of these two major fires, and there are at least 30 more that remain missing. With the bravery and hard work of thousands of firefighters from not only Cal Fire, but also from other parts of the U.S., and other countries, citizens remain hopeful that the fires will soon become controlled, contained and extinguished before further destruction can occur. According to CBS News, at least 21 people have already been charged with suspected arson, looting and pillaging within the evacuation zones, while 39 arrests have been made for those suspected to be using the crisis as an opportunity to commit crimes unnoticed.

Riley Small – Argosy Illustrator

It can be hard to wrap your head around the unfathomable loss associated with a disaster of this magnitude, but perhaps music artist and L.A. resident John Mayer said it best in an Instagram post he made on January 9. Under an image of what would at first appear to be a typical file-folder, Mayer shared his thoughts about the grief he is feeling alongside his community. In the caption, Mayer explained the significance of the folder, “This is the most valuable thing I own. It’s a folder of photos of my father, spanning his life from being a baby, an educator, a husband and a father. It’s the only evidence of his life that will exist over time.” Although he does not show any of the pictures that this folder contains, he elaborates on just how fortunate he is to still have it amidst the devastation in his neighbourhood. “These are the ‘documents’ you read about people taking from their homes. When you hear someone say they’ve lost everything in a fire, this is much of that everything, if not all of it. Those who say they’ll be okay still have their folders and their albums. Those who are inconsolable have lost them. Just behind the immeasurable loss of life is the loss of the proof of life.”

Mayer goes on to confirm that he is in fact safely evacuated, but his social media post serves as a reminder to folks to hold their loved ones, and their memories, a little tighter. His concluding statements echo the sentiments of many watching this disaster unfold from all over the world:I don’t practice prayer but tonight I will say one for everyone who no longer has these items. […] May those who have lost so much find some semblance of hope and support from their family and friends. Stay safe, look out for yourself and for one another, and trust that humanity and all it entails, though sometimes hard to see, is alive and well.”



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