On January 7, 2025 wildfires spread in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. People were forced out of their homes to survive the fire. Around 16,000 buildings were damaged, 11,000 homes were caught on fire, and at least 29 people died because of the fire. Over 23,000 thousand acres were burned down and surrounding communities were devastated. A
There were two separate fires. According to NBC News, the first fire started in Pacific Palisades, a Los Angeles neighborhood east of Malibu, as a brush fire. ccording to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the fire damaged or destroyed more than 6,800 structures.
The second Eaton Fire started a few hours later near a canyon. This one burned in the national forest lands north of downtown Los Angeles. This fire damaged 10,491 structures .
Sadly, the fire was hard to put out because of the rapid spread. It was fueled by dry vegetation and extreme weather conditions like strong wings according to DRYAD. And even though the fire fighters were spraying the wildfire down with water, the fire continued to blaze for four weeks.
CBS News did confirm the names of the 29 victims. NBC News noted that 17 of the deaths were in the Eaton Fire and 12 in the Palisades Fire, according to the medical examiner’s office. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said “a significant number of people who did not heed evacuation orders have been injured in the Palisades Fire.”
They also reported on 11 celebrities who lost their homes in the fire like Jhene Akio and Paris Hilton.
But one thing they haven’t confirmed yet was how the fire was started. According to google almost 90% of Americans believe that the fires were intentionally started. One theory noted that “water was deliberately withheld from Los Angeles communities to increase the burn area.” However, none of this has been confirmed by news sources, which all site the record low rainfall and 70 mph wind gusts as the cause.
According to JP Morgan, the total economic losses is estimated to reach $50 billion.
