40,587, the number of acres burned in the LA fires. To put this into perspective this is equivalent to about 30,000 football fields. That is a huge number and that number continues to grow day by day. Unfortunately, thousands have lost their homes, the places they grew up, the schools they went to, and some even lost their lives. This wildfire also known as the LA Fire has been all over the news, but maybe you’re still confused about what is happening and how it started.
What is Happening?
On January 7th small fires turned into monstrous ones. Due to a mix of dry conditions and powerful Santa Ana winds these fires spread rapidly throughout the Los Angeles area. First, understand that this isn’t one fire, it’s three big fires across LA. There were more fires but they were contained, except the Palisades, Eaton, and Huges fires. They are the ones affecting the LA area causing more than 50,000 people to evacuate their homes and businesses .
How did it start? Are there theories?
There is no official cause of the fires but the mix of dry conditions and heavy winds created a fire hazard across Los Angeles. Although there isn’t an official cause many theories have soared the internet. A popular one is that the fires were set purposely as part of the United Nations plan to create “smart cities”. According to CBS News, the theory is the U.N. wanted the land to go through with “smart cities”, which aim to cut global emissions to help with the climate crisis. But the U.N.’s plan does not involve destroying buildings or homes, and this theory was disproved. Another popular theory was the fires were a cover-up for celebrity crimes since a lot of celebrities’ houses were burned down. The celebrity most people thought of was Sean “Diddy” Combs since he had recently been arrested for sex trafficking crimes. People rumored that his mansion, which contained evidence of his crimes, burned in the fires. This is false as Diddy’s mansion wasn’t burned and was outside of the evacuation zone.
Are Private Firefighters a Real Thing?
Private Firefighters are a real thing and many rich people and businesses use them to protect their homes and property. Billionaire, Rick Caruso, is a developer and owns the Palisades Village. Caruso hired private firefighters to protect businesses such as Channel from the Palisades fire. Caruso’s team consisted of private firefighters from Arizona. These firefighters had their own private water trucks. Thus, when fire hydrants had no water left Caruso’s team still had water to protect his property.This has left many people in the Los Angeles area frustrated because they lost their homes while celebrities and billionaires hired private firefighters to protect their own. People have expressed how unfair this advantage was especially with the lack of water and public resources to help local firefighters.
What’s Next?
Many neighboring states such as Washington have donated their resources like firefighters and their trucks to help contain the LA fires. These firefighters have been working hard, but they are only in California for a limited time. Former President Biden, who was in office when he declared this, stated that California is in a state of emergency and will receive federal aid to help recover. The California government also voted and approved a recovery plan bill. As reported by the California government Gavin Newson, governor of California, signed a 2.5 billion dollar bill. This bill will help survivors of the fire with shelter, will help clean up affected areas, and more. There have also been GoFundMe pages, foundations, and donations from celebrities to aid with Los Angeles recovery.
Los Angeles has gone through something horrible, more than 200,000 people have been affected by the LA fires and at least 29 people have been killed by them. I’ve linked GoFundMe pages and other resources below. If you can help in any way please do.
Rest in peace to those who were killed and my prayers go out to all affected.
Resources:
Baby2Baby (Currently providing diapers, food, and clothes to kids and families affected)
Works Cited
California Government. “Governor Newsom signs $2.5 billion bipartisan relief package to help Los Angeles recover and rebuild faster from firestorm | Governor of California.” Governor of California, 23 January 2025, https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/01/23/governor-newsom-signs-2-5-billion-bipartisan-relief-package-to-help-los-angeles-recover-and-rebuild-faster-from-firestorm/. Accessed 20 Janurary 2025.
Chow, Denise. “What caused the California fires: How strong wind and abnormal dryness fueled the blazes in L.A.” NBC News, 11 January 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/what-fueled-la-fires-dry-conditions-wind-rcna186801. Accessed 17 January 2025.
Doan, Laura. “Wildfire conspiracy theories are going viral again. Why?” CBS News, 16 January 2025, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wildfire-conspiracy-theories-viral-fact-check/. Accessed 20 January 2025.
Kamin, Debra. “’Will Pay Any Amount’: Private Firefighters Are in Demand in L.A.” The New York Times, 12 January 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/us/private-firefighters-la-wildfires.html. Accessed 19 January 2025.
Labs, AJ. “Mapping the Hughes wildfire that is scorching the Los Angeles mountains.” Al Jazeera, 23 January 2025, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/23/mapping-the-hughes-wildfire-that-is-scorching-the-los-angeles-mountains. Accessed 22 January 2025.
Ramirez, Quixem, and Sebastian Robertson. “Washington sending teams of firefighters to help with Palisades fire.” KING 5, 8 January 2025, https://www.king5.com/article/news/nation-world/washington-sending-firefighters-to-help-palisades-fire/281-fc3cbfa1-52d9-4ee2-bbbf-6a06aff2d2c6. Accessed 21 January 2025.
Shah, Simmone. “How to Help Victims of the Los Angeles Wildfires | TIME.” Time, 8 January 2025, https://time.com/7205547/los-angeles-wildfires-how-to-help-victims/. Accessed 17 January 2025.
Stelloh, Tim, et al. “California wildfires: What we know about L.A.-area fires, what caused them, who is affected and more.” NBC News, 30 January 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/weather/wildfires/california-wildfires-what-know-cause-maps-palisades-eaton-los-angeles-rcna187289. Accessed 14 Janurary 2025.
Zahniser, David. “L.A. City Council passes series of measures to aid recovery from catastrophic fires.” Los Angeles Times, 14 January 2025, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-14/fires-los-angeles-city-council-proposes-dozens-of-actions-to-address-wildfire-responses-and-recovery. Accessed 18 January 2025.
