Case Details

From January 7 to 31, 2025, a series of 14 destructive wildfires affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego County in California, United States. The fires were exacerbated by drought conditions, low humidity, a buildup of vegetation from the previous winter, and hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, which in some places reached 100 miles per hour 160 km/h; 45 m/s. As of January 31, 2025, the wildfires have killed at least 29 people, forced more than 200,000 to evacuate, and destroyed more than 18,000 homes and structures. The wildfires burned over 57,000 acres 23,000 ha; 89 sq mi of land in total.

Most of the damage was from the two largest fires: the Eaton Fire in Altadena and the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, both of which were fully contained on January 31, 2025. Municipal fire departments and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection CAL FIRE fought the property fires and wildfires, which were extinguished by tactical aircraft alongside ground firefighting teams. The deaths and damage to property from these two fires made them likely the second and third-most destructive fires in California’s history, respectively.