A lot of people this week have been asking me why the wildfires in LA are happening and why no one can put them out. The devastation is unlike anything Iāve seen before, and the timing is terrifying.
Iāve lived in LA my entire life, and fire season is as natural to us as palm trees and traffic on the 405. Growing up, I accepted certain realities: evacuating during late summer, keeping āgo bagsā packed by the door, and watching the news with dread as flames crept closer to my neighborhood. I learned early that nature doesnāt care about your plans or possessions.
In 2018, I watched my entire world burn during the Woolsey Fire. My 70 year old dad illegally crossed the fire line to save our house while we evacuated - a decision that saved our home but one Iāll never forget. He walked 16 miles to get to our house only to discover that we didnāt have any water and the flames were engulfing everything around him. He shoveled dirt on fires near the house for 8 hours straight. Iāll never shake the memory of returning to my neighborhood, seeing nothing but ashes where my neighborsā homes once stood.
And now, just days ago, my brother, who canāt even walk due to his ongoing disability, lost everything he owned to these January fires. The video youāre watching is whatās left of his house. When he was evacuating, the police told him that he had two choices: run for his life or die. That wasnāt an option for him, but by some miracle, he escaped with his car and is safe. He watched hundreds of people abandon their cars and run to the beach for safety.
Iāll be posting a Geyser fund link in the coming days to help him find temporary housing - or you can help support him by simply zapping this post. All of the proceeds will go to my brother.
People joke that we donāt have seasons in SoCal, but locals know better. We have two seasons: fire season and the anxious months waiting for the next fire season.
We often forget the raw power of nature until moments like these remind us how small we really are against its force.
Hereās what you need to know about LAās fire crisis, why these January fires are unprecedented, and why firefighters are calling this a āfire hurricane.ā
How do wildfires actually start?āØš„ Something creates a spark (97% of LA fires are human-caused)āØšæ Dry vegetation provides endless fuelāØšØ Winds feed oxygen to the flames
Whatās normal?āØš Fire season traditionally runs late June through OctoberāØš² Fires typically start in remote areas like the Santa Monica Mountains and Malibu, where thousands of acres of dry brush wait like kindlingāØšØ Santa Ana winds sweep through coastal SoCal during fall, typically 40-60mph with gusts up to 70mph, occurring 10-25 times annually
What makes these winds so dangerous?āØš§They create desert-like conditions with humidity dropping below 10%āØš”ļø As they descend from mountains, they heat up dramaticallyāØš These winds can make coastal areas hotter than the desert, with fall sometimes bringing our highest temperatures of the year
Why are these fires different?āØšŖļø Weāre experiencing a āfire hurricaneā with unprecedented 100mph windsāØāļø These fires are raging in January - traditionally our wettest, safest monthāØšļø Unlike normal patterns, multiple fires ignited in urban areas simultaneouslyāØš§ļø Historic drought: 0.03 inches of rain since October (we should have had 3.5 inches)
The devastating impactāØš 10,000+ structures destroyed and counting
ā ļø 11 people dead and countingāØš° Potentially the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history ($52-57 billion)āØš„ 180,000 people forced to evacuate their homesāØā ļø Major fires still burning with zero containment
But hereās what makes these fires truly terrifying: they create their own weather system. The intense heat creates powerful updrafts, surrounding air rushes in like a vacuum, and the cycle feeds itself - creating what scientists call a āfirestorm.ā Itās like a hurricane made of fire, and itās virtually impossible to stop once it begins.
Weāre watching climate change transform our home in real-time. What used to be a predictable season of natural disaster has become a year-round threat. The scariest part? This may be our new normal.
Stay safe, LA š
