This past January, fires raged through the surrounding areas of Los Angeles, California, leaving thousands of Americans without a home as the fires swept the cities. The two largest fires, the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, and the Eaton Fire near Pasadena are still active, although they have been largely contained since the start.
The Palisades Fire which started on Jan. 7, has covered over 23,000 acres and is now 100% contained, as ABC reports. However, there are still countless other ripple-effect fires that have ignited across southern California.
The southern California climate is dry and hot – the perfect environment to ignite such a large-scale incident. While ‘wildfire season’ is common for the region, generally occurring in the summer and fall according to the USDA, wildfires have been on the rise and longer lasting with the past few decades. NBC reports that although the exact cause has not officially been determined, heavy offshore winds as well as a lack of rainfall which has been less than 10% since Oct. 1 has contributed to the dry and barren climate the California is experiencing.
This essentially means that even the smallest, almost unavoidable fires that could be caused by utility, electric, or lightning could spark a larger impact. Additionally, causes like arson or fires started around homeless tents in the LA area are not being ruled out. However, each of these causes reflect the inevitability of fire, and more largely, the fact that much of these inevitable incidents that result in large scale wildfires like this one are a reflection of nature’s increasing inability to steadily control fire like in the past, because of the hostile environment California has become.
Germantown Academy Environmental Action leader Katie Martin ‘25, reflected on the issue.
“The wildfires were kind of like this combination of all the bad things that people have been warning about for years and that a lot of people haven’t been listening to,” Martin said.
She expanded on her feelings as she read the news about it, saying that a sense of horror and worry gripped her. The leaders of GAEA have been active in mobilizing GA students to contribute to the relief efforts. That consisted of donations made to Center for Disaster Philanthropy, where students donated $2 or more culminating in a dress down on Friday, January 31 in an effort to thank donors.
“Just getting students to understand what was happening was a big part of mobilizing them. We [GAEA] had a big meeting about it, and there was a big show out,” Martin said. “We did a lot of announcements, we sent a lot of emails. We put up posters.”
Recent GA graduate Raina Bandekar ‘23 is a sophomore at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has been affected by the fires. As a student, her classes were canceled on January 9th, just two days after coming back from winter break. The following week, her classes were virtual. Her residence in Westwood is outside the scope of the Palisades Fire, but is just miles away from it, so she feels some of the ripple effects.
“Some of my friends and professors have lost their homes,” Bandekar said. “It’s really tragic to see the fires just miles from campus, knowing that the people around you are feeling those direct impacts.”
While the largest fires, Eaton and Palisades, are now fully contained, the region is far from recovery, as thousands of homes have been lost and countless residents have been stripped of their belongings and livelihood, and according to NBC, at least 29 people have died. The Guardian reports that with preliminary economic losses of at least $250 billion dollars and 60 square miles of scorched land, it will take years to recover.
Though a specific cause is still being investigated by officials, the January wildfires are a harrowing reminder of the persistent impacts of climate change that continue to affect the world.
SOURCES:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-updates/california-wildfires-los-angeles-weather/?id=117613594
https://www.climatehubs.usda.gov/taxonomy/term/398
https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/are-arsonists-responsible-los-angeles-wildfires-rcna186949
https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/palisades-eaton-fire-la-contained-rcna188338 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/31/california-fires-cause-utilities#:~:text=Cal%20Fire%20investigators%20have%20identified,fell%20on%20company%20power%20lines.