Climate Corner: Wildfires Devastate Los Angeles

Welcome back to the Climate Corner! In this edition, we will dive into the recent tragic fires in Los Angeles, some of California's most devastating forest fires. On January 9th at 2:30 pm, the first sight of the burning flames appeared on a trailhead near Victory Boulevard in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. The fire quickly spread to 50 acres and ravaged the city for over a week. With great winds picking up and dry air, the fires are tearing through the famed city, leaving residents stripped of their homes and communities.

As of Wednesday, January 15th, 2025, at least two dozen individuals have lost their lives due to the tragedies. Thousands of LA residents in the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and Kenneth areas have been displaced to hotels and other homes. Debbie Slavin, a resident of the Altadena community of Los Angeles County on Winrock Avenue, lost her home due to the fires. She reported, "I am so, so, so saddened by the loss that everyone is going through and what they have to go through," she said. "It's so heartbreaking." While she is overwhelmed by grief, she is grateful that she is alive and her community is still supporting each other. Firefighters are working tirelessly to extinguish the fires, and communities from all over the state are gathering to provide nutrients and shelter for those who need them.

As each day passes, more and more individuals are returning to their homes, which have burned to the ground, or their homes, which survived. Either way, these neighborhoods are uninhabitable due to the consequences of a damaged climate and have devastated all. These fires are a testament to our lack of global responsibility towards the environment in the past century. It is now or never that we must regulate our fossil fuel release to avoid these tragic weather events in the future.