Southern California Wildfires

February 6, 2025

Wildfires cause destruction in Southern California.

wildfires
drought
wind

In early 2025, thousands of people in Southern California were forced to evacuate their homes as wildfires spread through parts of Los Angeles and surrounding areas.

“I was sleeping, of course, my dog alerted me that there was trouble, and when I looked outside there’s embers flowing across my yard.

“I got a phone call at quarter to 11, there’s a fire in the Palisades, pack up and get out.”

“It feels like doomsday, yep.”

The LA wildfires started on January 7, and quickly spread. The largest two were the Eaton Fire, in the Altadena area, and the Palisades Fire, which hit Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu.

One month later, the fires have largely been contained, but not before destroying entire neighborhoods.

“It’s just hard to even understand, or even imagine. It’s just heartbreaking—not just for me, but for the whole community as well”

“Everything that we know and love is gone. Not just this house, my whole city gone, man, the whole thing, like everything, my whole neighborhood, everything that i grew up to love and know is burnt up.”

Wildfires aren’t uncommon in California, with thousands breaking out every year across the state, but these fires were particularly dangerous due to recent weather conditions.

Severe drought, as a result of historically low rainfall, had dried out vegetation, making it easier for fires to start.

At the same time, strong winds up to 100 miles per hour fanned the flames and blew hot embers over long distances. These embers then ignited more vegetation—making firefighting extremely challenging.

“Fire can walk, run, jump and fly—and what we mean by that is with those embers, so with this wind, that can carry those embers into that unburned fuel to reignite this fire.”

“It’s pretty much like a hurricane except instead of rain we had fire”

In addition to dousing flames with water, firefighters used aircrafts to drop a pink powder containing a chemical that slows the rate at which plants burn, helping to prevent flames spreading even farther.

Now, after weeks of effort, the fires are under control and the recovery can begin—rebuilding homes, communities, and defenses against future fires.

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Teaching Overview

Learning Points

Thousands of people in Southern California were forced to evacuate their homes due to wildfires.
The most destructive fires were the Palisades fire and Eaton fire.
The fires were made worse by severe drought conditions and very strong winds.

Curriculum Keywords

wildfires
drought
wind

Spark a Discussion

Why do drought conditions make wildfires more likely to start or spread?
How do strong winds affect wildfires?
How did firefighters try to stop the fires from spreading?

Credits

Map data from OpenStreetMap

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