The recent wildfires that have ravaged Southern California have left an unprecedented trail of destruction. The Eaton fire in Altadena burned more than 14,000 acres, while the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades consumed 23,448 acres. In total, over 16,000 structures were destroyed, including thousands of homes.
According to experts on the subject, there are two clear connections between wildfires and climate change that explain the intensity of these events.
First connection: The greenhouse effect
“What this does is create a greenhouse effect that increases the planet’s temperature,” explains Christopher Olivares, environmental engineer. “The burning of fossil fuels directly contributes to global warming, creating conditions more conducive to fires.”
Second connection: Extreme weather events
Climate change is causing more extreme and erratic weather patterns. A clear example was observed in Southern California, where the winters of 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 were among the wettest in history, giving vegetation the opportunity for greater growth.
The Perfect Recipe for Disaster
However, after these wet winters, the summer of 2024 was the warmest on record for the entire state. To make matters worse, that same year the region had the driest winter season on record, where rain was notably absent.
“Given the dry conditions that created ideal fuel, like what we see here in this dry vegetation, the hurricane-force Santa Ana winds that arrived on January 7th were the final ingredient in a perfect recipe for the development of large wildfires,” notes Olivares.
The environmental engineer emphasizes that “this increase in intensity of all climate phenomena is one of the effects of climate change, so it greatly contributes to the possibility of fires and their expansion in Southern California.”
Statistics support this alarming trend: of the 20 most destructive fires in California’s history, 15 of them occurred in the last 10 years, demonstrating the acceleration of these extreme events in the climate change era.
Palm trees are iconic symbols of Southern California, adorning landscapes from Beverly Hills to San Diego. Ana Cristina Sánchez explains how these emblematic trees can play a significant role in spreading wildfires.
To combat this risk, creating a fire-resistant garden with native plants can be a crucial step in protecting your home. Southern California native plants are naturally adapted to the dry climate and are less prone to combustion than exotic species, but only when they receive proper maintenance.
Greg Rubin, president and owner of Native Landscape Design, Inc., a California company specializing in native plants, describes these species’ ability to tolerate drought as “a true ecological superpower.”
“When native plants are slightly hydrated, they don’t burn. They char, yes, they carbonize a bit, but they don’t catch fire,” explains Rubin.
However, he clarifies that even these resistant plants need about three-quarters of an inch of water per month to stay healthy and effective as a fire barrier.
Imagine moving into a new home in California that’s cheaper, safer, and built in a matter of days. That’s what Daniel Lopez-Perez, Ph.D. promised as he stepped inside the geometric house he erected in his La Jolla backyard. The 440-square-foot house is the first prototype for his company, Polyhaus.
Lopez-Perez said it was built in a few days from dozens of thick three-ply mass timber panels. He said mass timber is roughly 4.5 inches thick. It’s assembled, measured, and cut into large panels in Washington. Then it’s shipped to be assembled, not unlike an Ikea product, just with heavier and higher-end material.
The prototype cost roughly $300,000.
The units are capable of withstanding earthquakes, storms, and wildfires far better than traditional homes, Lopez-Perez said. The diagonal design of the panels is structurally stronger and the angled walls deflect winds much easier than a flat, squared surface. He also said he could hold a blow torch against the mass-timber panel walls for hours and it would not catch fire.
Cost and permits
Daniel Lopez-Perez explains how long it would take to build a fire-resilient home in your backyard.
Coverage crisis in California
Of the 12 major home insurers in California, nine have paused or restricted new business since 2022.
While no law requires property owners in the state to have insurance, those with mortgages must have it. However, typical property insurance policies rarely cover damage caused by disasters like earthquakes, floods, and landslides. Separate insurance policies are required to protect against those types of calamities.
In the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood, devastated by wildfires, some homeowners were caught off guard in March when State Farm announced it would stop renewing their coverage.
State Farm, California’s largest home insurer, said its decision “was not taken lightly.” It blamed costs associated with inflation, catastrophe exposure, reinsurance, and regulations for its need to protect “its results.”
State Farm said in a non-renewal letter provided to the state that the 30,000 property insurance policyholders being canceled in California lived in areas considered as “presenting the most significant wildfire or post-earthquake fire risks.” The west side Los Angeles region was most affected by the company’s decision, which took effect last summer. In Pacific Palisades, more than 1,600 policies were not renewed.
State Farm had already said in 2023 that it would no longer offer home insurance to new customers in California, partly due to catastrophe exposure. Allstate, California’s sixth-largest home insurer, also said that year it was stopping new policies in the state. California has an insurance program under the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, established in the 1960s, that provides fire insurance coverage for high-risk properties. The coverage is basic and funded by insurance companies.
Although intended as a last resort for homeowners, its use has only skyrocketed in recent years, from nearly 154,500 residential policies in September 2019 to more than 408,400 in June, creating high-risk exposure that state officials say was never the intention.
Amy Bach, director of United Policyholders, a nonprofit organization that has helped families with insurance since 1991, reveals an alarming statistic: “When we conduct our surveys after wildfires, it’s surprisingly consistent that two-thirds of people” are underinsured.
The Danger of Automatic Renewal
Bach explains that families become “blindly underinsured” when their policies automatically renew each year, but don’t keep up with realistic costs of rebuilding their home.
“If your house burns down and you don’t have enough coverage, you have to pay the difference,” warns the expert.
How to check if you’re underinsured
Bach recommends a simple but crucial calculation:
1. Review your current policy
2. Take the number under “dwelling insurance”
3. Divide it by your home’s square footage
The decisive test: “If that insurance number per square foot is in the $200 range, you’re underinsured,” explains Bach. According to the expert, $300 to $400 per square foot is more realistic in today’s market.
Take immediate action
To protect yourself adequately:
1. Ask a contractor to confirm actual reconstruction costs
2. Consult with your agent about getting more coverage
3. Don’t wait: You can take action today, without needing to wait for your policy renewal date
Financial preparation is as important as physical preparation when it comes to protecting your home against wildfires.
Homeowners’ insurance may be impossible to get in parts of California because of wildfires, and even if you’re lucky enough to have a policy, the premiums could burn a hole in your budget.
A program called Wildfire Prepared, however, may help you get insurance or make it more affordable. There are two levels to the program: Base and Plus.
You may qualify for the Base-level designation if you’ve undertaken some DIY projects, including:
• Creating the 0-5 foot noncombustible zone
• Maintaining 30 feet of defensible space
• Upgrading vulnerable building features, including roofs, gutters and vents
The Plus designation, which builds on the Base level, is designed for ember defense and may require exterior renovations.
The Wildfire Prepared program is run by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, an independent nonprofit research organization funded by insurance companies.
After completing all the necessary updates, you’ll need to send your application, a $125 fee and photos to the IBHS for review. Once it approves the photos, someone will inspect your home in person and do a final review of all documentation. Once approved, a certificate will be emailed to you.
Once you have a designation certificate, you’ll need to complete an annual review to keep it. And after three years, recertification is required.
With rubble still smoldering, Vardaan Vasisht narrated the moment he discovered his Malibu house survived January’s firestorm.
“I’m very fortunate that it’s intact,” he said, his breath halting, on a cellphone video.
In the sea of ash around L.A., it’s a mystery why some houses survived and others burned. But not here. Vardaan points to his roof-mounted sprinklers.
“We created almost like a water bubble,” said founder Harry Statter. Frontline installs sprinklers that can automatically trigger when a wildfire sparks nearby, essentially letting a house protect itself.
Statter says the system accounts for a harsh reality.
Frontline installs sprinklers that automatically activate when they detect a nearby wildfire, allowing a house to protect itself. While some homeowners stayed in January manually spraying their houses with garden hoses—a heroic but risky action—Statter explains that his system allows families to evacuate safely.
“But the good news is that I could see the system working on my phone,” says Vashist, who evacuated while his sprinklers worked on autopilot.
Now, he’s wondering whether more homes could, should, or must have this tech.
“I’m not going to say it should be mandatory, because I don’t know how many people can afford this, but our cities and our governments need to think through a process where we say we’ll subsidize it, or we do a property tax rebate,” he said. “I don’t know what the structure would look like — but I think that would be a very smart thing to do.”
Impressive results
The numbers speak for themselves: Frontline reports that of 61 client houses where fires swept through, 59 survived—a 96% success rate.
“We’ve had success in the past, but never at this scale,” admits Statter.
Frontline might cost you tens of thousands of dollars, which could be out of reach for many. But Statter said consumers might get some help soon.
“We’ve had a number of insurance companies contact us,” he said. “They want to develop programs.”
It’s still too early for details, he said. But at a time when wildfires are more common and more costly, Statter said the idea of proactively making communities too wet to burn is just too important to ignore.
“You absolutely have to take matters into your own hands,” he said. “It’s not an ‘if’ your house is going to face fire, it’s a ‘when.'”
More than 700 firefighters, police officers, and sheriff’s personnel participated in Southern California’s annual wildfire preparedness exercise, a three-day drill that replicated real emergency conditions. Participants didn’t know beforehand what scenarios they would face, forcing them to adapt and respond as they would during an actual fire—establishing command posts, mapping terrain, and fighting flames by air and land.
This training proved especially relevant considering that fire season in Southern California lasts 365 days a year, as demonstrated by the devastating fires of early 2025. Although the drill scenarios changed to incorporate lessons learned from past fires, the fundamental objective remained constant: preparing response teams for initial attack against wildfires, a skill that can mean the difference between containing a fire or facing a catastrophe.
California strengthens its aerial fire fleet with two new C-130 Hercules
California added two new C-130 Hercules tanker aircraft to its firefighting fleet, significantly increasing its aerial firefighting capabilities. These aircraft, acquired from the U.S. Coast Guard and modified by CAL FIRE, can carry up to 4,000 gallons of water or fire retardant each, considerably improving the state’s ability to respond quickly to wildfires. This aerial fleet expansion comes at a critical time, when California faces a fire season that extends practically year-round due to climate change and prolonged drought conditions.