California is currently held captive by devastating wildfires, destroying houses, historic landmarks and places of work. The dry climate and strong winds make California more vulnerable to extreme fire seasons.
The Palisades Fire is currently the strongest of the fires, it alone has destroyed 19,978 acres of land and officials have only been able to contain six percent of the flames. This fire ignited on January 7, early morning, and has been roaring since. This fire has hit over 13,000 structures including hotels, schools, museums and many celebrity homes such as Paris Hilton, Mandy Moore and Adam Brody. While it was being spread on social media that the Hollywood Sign had caught on fire, the images were AI-generated, and as of right now, the Hollywood Sign is free of risk and just had all evacuation warnings lifted.
40,000 acres have been impacted across the Greater Los Angeles Area. The wildfires have killed at least 24 people, but officials do not know the exact numbers. The 24 people dead does not count the hundreds of people who are injured or have vanished.
Law enforcement is trying to keep calm amid this crisis. They have arrested over 20 looters and are maintaining strong presences in evacuated zones. During this tragedy, looters are trying to break into houses that are worth over $10 million, stealing whatever they can. In many areas, alarm systems did not go off in homes because all electricity systems were disabled and officials could not easily reach the areas due to fire hazards. Many celebrities have spoken out against looting including Julia Roberts, saying via Instagram in a post “#F.U.looters”. Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, made a statement against Elon Musk who was said to be supporting looters on X by saying “Stop encouraging looting by lying and telling people it’s decriminalized. It’s not. It’s illegal – as it always has been.”
The smoke particles produced from the fire are minuscule, and it is very easy to enter a person’s body and travel into their lungs. The air particles are PM 2.5, soot, dirt, smoke, and all around, just bad air. A level of PM 2.5 can cause many health issues, which can start small and get more serious if not taken care of. If the air is contaminated, you will have some of the first symptoms, including coughing, wheezing, sneezing, irritated eyes or throat and chest tightness. Children and elders can be severely affected by the smoke if they do not do something about it. Some people wear simple face masks, while others do not do anything, which could eventually lead to strokes, heart attacks, lung cancer or brain cancer.
You can do some things to help, including donating to food banks or animal shelters. Over 100 animals have been without a home or lost, as many families cannot support an animal, so they must be put in a shelter.
These ongoing wildfires in California have caused large amounts of destruction, taking lives, displacing thousands and degrading the air quality. These effects show the need for more wildfire management and disaster preparedness. To help, you can donate to many websites such as greatergood.org, lafoodbank.org, salvationarmy.org, and humanesociety.org. As officials work day in and day out to combat fires, stay resilient and cooperate we must remember to stay calm and help in any way we can as California navigates this crisis.
