Climate Matters: Los Angeles wildfires worsened by climate change
The most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles's history have ravaged scenic neighborhoods and forced thousands to evacuate as they remain mostly uncontained early Thursday afternoon.
According to Cal Fire, the Palisades fire had burned more than 17,000 acres by Thursday morning as it blazed through the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and Santa Monica. The Eaton fire, which grew fivefold in just 24 hours, ripped across 10,000 acres and forced evacuations from Pasadena neighborhoods. The Sunset fire sparked up late Wednesday night and burned over 40 acres near iconic landmarks in the Hollywood Hills.
The blazes were fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds and a record-dry end to the year for parts of Southern California. Vegetation that has spread over the mountains in recent wetter winters has dried out again this season, providing more fuel for the flames.
While the northern region of California has been reeling from intense atmospheric rivers and feet of rain in recent months, little to nothing has fallen down south.
Downtown Los Angeles has only received 0.29 inches of rain since May 1st of last year, the second lowest amount of rain ever measured in that period since records began in the late 19th century.
Coupled with the strongest Santa Ana wind event in a decade, over 100 mph winds produced critical fire weather conditions in the record dry region.
Brian Schaeffer, Fire Chief for the City of Columbia, says these fires are particularly influenced by the wildland-urban interface, where homes are built into previously fire-prone areas. This isn't just a problem in California.
"It does happen here, and as we continue to push our homes and our infrastructure into the forest, it's going to be even more important for us to be in a prevention mindset," Schaeffer says. These prevention methods include building with fire adaption in mind and ensuring that people can get out of those fire-prone areas when needed, according to Schaeffer.
Climate change is pushing fire danger into more atypical parts of the country. "As we continue to watch climate change and its impact on the environment, we're starting to see places like Michigan, Minnesota, all these traditionally not involved in the conversation of wildland fire become a part of the conversation because it's happening in these communities," Shaeffer says.
Schaeffer says this has become the new norm for the West. "This is what the fire service on the West Coast has been dealing with for 20 years. Fire season on the West Coast has gone from being a summer event to an all-year event."
Critical fire danger will likely continue for parts of Southern California over the weekend and next week as several periods of high winds fuel the flames.
