Summary
Wildfires in Los Angeles have burned twice the size of Manhattan, marking the worst wildfire event in the city’s history.
Beginning January 7, the fires have killed 11 people, destroyed over 10,000 structures, and displaced 150,000 residents.
Major blazes include the Palisades fire (21,317 acres, 8% contained) and Eaton fire (14,000 acres, 3% contained).
Estimated losses range from $52-$57 billion, raising concerns about insurance costs.
Experts link increasing wildfire intensity to the climate crisis.
Where I live, in Europe, essentially all buildings are brick and mortar, or some variation thereof. Furnishings will burn, but fire is unlikely to run amok.
We don’t really have any serious earthquakes in Europe though. I believe the building codes in LA make it expensive and difficult to build with brick due to the dangers of brick buildings collapsing during earthquakes.
I’ll be interesting how they desgin the city going forward though, surely they’ll need to have some kind of fire-breaking defences in between suburbs.