Three hundred and twelve wildfires. 46,563 emergency exits. 16,255 structures destroyed. 57,509 acres burned. 28 fatalities.

A climate sequence known as “whiplash,” which involves heavy rainfall and vegetation growth between 2022 and 2023, followed by a year of dry conditions producing abundant kindling in 2024, created a breeding ground for the Los Angeles (LA) fires that first erupted Jan. 7.

The Palisades Fire was the first to be reported, followed by the Eaton Fire, Hurst Fire, Hughes Fire and others in the surrounding area. In LA, tens of thousands of displaced residents will soon return to an estimated $350,000 of damaged public infrastructure and $30 billion of insurance support.

LA leaders such as Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom have faced scrutiny for decisions they made in office that could have potentially jeopardized the city’s safety. In particular, Bass’ approval of a $23 million budget cut for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in 2024 has been met with criticism. Last November, the city allocated additional money for the LAFD to meet anticipated pay raises, allowing funding to surpass the previous year’s budget by $53 million. Still, LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley implied that funding was insufficient to meet the department’s staffing or resource demands.

Senior Annie Painter, who has family living in the Bay Area, believes that the fires were not met with an adequate response.

“I think that [the fires] definitely could have been handled in a very different way … there have been so many fires in LA for so many years … it’s kind of like a wake-up call for people in California to change their lives a little bit,” she said.

Similarly, senior Thomas Kovarik has relatives living in Santa Rosa. Although the recent fires did not impact them, they have felt the effects in the years past.

About five years ago, his relatives received an alert on their phones warning them of encroaching fire. They quickly packed their belongings and left their house at 2 a.m., heading for the Bay Area. Later, a neighbor messaged them a photo of their home, which had been completely burnt down.

“They were pretty sad… they lost a cat because they just couldn’t find it and they had to go,” Kovarik said.

Though his family has rebuilt their house on a new California property, the fires have altered Kovarik’s impression of the state.

“I used to like California as a place to live … now, I just can’t see myself moving there anymore,” he said.

Although recent rainfall across the LA area has given residents and firefighters temporary relief, toxic ash runoff and mudslides continue to worry many. One climate disaster after another, LA experiences another destructive chapter.