The LA Fires and What They Mean for the Future
By: Sonya Malik
No one would’ve guessed that 2025 would’ve started with apocalyptic fires raging throughout southern California in LA. We all know about how wildfires are common throughout the state but wouldn’t have expected them to run through one of the biggest cities in the United States which is home to many celebrities. These fires have been catastrophic to the LA community and have made national headlines.
The California governor issued a state emergency and has issued over 15,000 personnel including firefighters, guard service members, transportation teams, highway patrol officers, and more to support communities throughout Southern California.
There are mainly 3 active fires going through LA and the surrounding areas right now and those are the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, and the Hurst Fire.
The Palisades Fire has been 14% contained which means it's the largest of the three fires; it has gone through 23,700 acres and through the Pacific Palisades. It has killed 8 people at the moment and still counting unfortunately until it ends. It has been estimated to have destroyed over 5,300 structures, says LA Fire Department Chief, Kristin Crowley. The Palisades Fire is inching its way towards Brentwood and is nearing Interstate 405.
Next, the Eaton Fire has been 33% contained, better than the Palisades Fire, and is on LA’s eastern side nearing Pasadena. The Eaton Fire has taken 16 lives which has made it one of the top deadliest fires on California’s record. It has burned through over 14,000 acres and over 7,000 structures have been destroyed because of the fire.
The last and smallest fire, the Hurst Fire, has been 89% contained making it almost dead and is located near San Fernando and only covered 799 acres which is significantly smaller compared to the others.
The reason these fires can keep spreading is because of the dry surroundings including grasses and other plants. Another reason these fires have lived for so long is because California has only seen 0.03 inches of rain since May 6th. Additionally, the winds have been very strong in LA only feeding the fire further.
People have evacuated to various places like schools, community centers, parks, food banks, and more since the fires started. In the upcoming months after these fires subsided a massive amount of construction will occur due to the mass destruction these fires have caused. A local LA architect, John Cordic, told TMZ that it will most likely take 2 to 3 years with everyone on board to rebuild LA back to its original glory.
Since the fires have started multiple events have been delayed and postponed such as; The NFL moved the LA Rams vs the Minnesota Vikings wildcard game to Arizona, the NBA postponed the Lakers vs Hornets game, the Critics Choice awards have been moved to Santa Monica, multiple of the Grammys afterparties have been cancelled and the host companies have redirected their funds to helping LA wildfires, multiple shows like Abbott elementary and Grey’s Anatomy have been postponed in filming, and more events have been delayed till further notice.
Many many people were affected by the fires and are continuing to and some household names that have been affected by these fires include Paris Hilton, Miles and Keleigh Teller, Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, and more celebrities are leaving the Brentwood community as I write this due to the fire edging closer to their homes.
All in all, these fires have affected thousands of people in the past week who call LA their home and will continue to till further notice of them stopping. These fires are scary at the moment but are something to think about for our future as well. Because if these fires don’t spare LA they won’t spare anyone and we need to help our climate rather than hurt it to prevent fires like these in the future.
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