Is it time to stop building in the wildfire affected areas of California?

By Thomas Lane2025-01-24T07:00:00

The recent fires in the hills around Los Angeles are the most costly in US history. Does it really make sense to live in these heavily wooded places?

Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th US president and his signing of a slew of controversial executive orders has switched the world’s attention from the devastating wildfires in California. The respite was only brief; on Wednesday, news broke of a new fire, Hughes, which at the time of writing had destroyed an area nearly three-quarters of the size of the second-largest fire, Eaton, which is still burning. The largest fire, the Palisades, is also still going.

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