Wildfires in Southern California, U.S., have killed at least five people, forced some 130,000 to evacuate, and damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 buildings. Numerous fires are raging around Los Angeles county, a region famous for its beaches and Hollywood celebrities. Nearly 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares) have burned in a quickly accelerating fire as of the morning of Jan. 9.
“In five minutes, it burned probably a quarter of a mile across Eaton Canyon,” local resident Muffie Alejandro told The New York Times.
Experts say the fires intensified due to the Santa Ana winds, also known as the “devil winds,” common at this time of year. The current event has seen wind speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers per hour), significantly fueling the fires’ spread. In response, the U.S. Storm Prediction Center, in collaboration with the National Weather Service, has issued a warning for extremely critical fire weather conditions.
The combination of powerful winds and vegetation dried out by moderate drought and record-high summer temperatures created ideal conditions for wildfire. California’s rainy season typically runs from October to April, but the region hasn’t seen significant rain since May 2024, when 0.15 inches (3.8 millimeters) fell in Los Angeles. Anything over .10 inches (2.54 millimeters) is technically considered significant for the area. The 2024 summer was California’s hottest in 130 years.
The record heat and drought conditions followed record rain and flooding in the region just two years earlier. From December 2022 to March 2023 much of the West Coast was inundated with rain. Los Angeles, currently battling fire, received more than 50 in (1,270 mm) of rain that season, one of the wettest events on record.
“Climate change has already increased the occurrence of extreme events, be it floods or droughts,” Stefan Doerr, a professor at Swansea University, U.K., and editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Wildland Fire, told Mongabay by email.
However, Doerr said it’s too soon to say whether the ongoing fires are a result of climate change or a predictable result of an exceptional rainy season, which allows more plants to grow quickly that later dry out and become fodder for fire.
He said it can’t be ruled out that the rain created more fuel, but added “more important will be the extended dry conditions this summer and fall that make any of the existing vegetation more flammable.”
“Climate change has led to a lengthening of the fire weather season,” he added.
In addition to thousands of residents, the fires have also forced wildlife in the region to flee.
“These fires are also burning through the habitat of our wild neighbors, including the struggling mountain lion population in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s another reminder that we have to immediately commit to policies that fight fossil fuel-driven climate change,” Tiffany Yap, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, told Mongabay by email.
Banner image of fire crews battling the Palisades fire in Southern California, courtesy of Cal Fire.
