Natural disaster factors

Dry climate and flammable vegetation: The Los Angeles area has suffered from continuous drought in recent years. The precipitation in 2024 was again lower than the historical average. The vegetation dried up due to long-term water shortage, forming a “powder keg” that could be ignited at any time. At the same time, climate warming has extended the fire season, gradually extending from the traditional late summer and early autumn to winter.

Strong winds help the fire spread: During the fire, the Santa Ana wind with a speed of more than 160 kilometers per hour raged. This strong wind not only added oxygen to the burning flames, but also made it easy for the slightest fire to spread quickly, making the control and rescue of wildfires more difficult. The fire was like being fed stimulants and could not be controlled.

Influence of terrain factors: The mountains, canyons and other terrains in Los Angeles have formed natural “wind ducts”, which made the fire spread more rapidly and provided favorable conditions for the rapid spread of wildfires.

Man-made factors

Aging and weak infrastructure:

Insufficient firefighting facilities: The Los Angeles Fire Department has been underfunded for nearly 10 years, and its 2025 budget has dropped by more than $17 million compared to 2024, resulting in many firefighting equipment being unable to be used normally. Some fire stations have old equipment and insufficient water, which has become a key problem in controlling the fire.

Failure of the water supply system: Los Angeles has long been underinvesting in infrastructure, and there are problems with the design of the water supply system, which has led to many firefighters encountering the dilemma of “no water in the fire hydrants” during disaster relief. The city government did not do its best to repair the reservoir, causing the key water source to be out of use, and there was no effective water transportation tool near the sea to use seawater for firefighting.

Negligence in power management: According to the Associated Press, wildfires may be caused by burning, fireworks, or even accidental events. There are also reports that the Palisade wildfire may be arson. In addition, some power companies cut off power to prevent power lines from catching fire and causing explosions and more fires, but this also interrupted the power to pump water for fire hydrants.

Social management chaos:

Ineffective emergency rescue coordination: Local social management is chaotic, emergency rescue coordination has major problems, lack of coordination between fire departments, delayed information transmission, resulting in inefficient resource allocation, and residents in some areas did not see any effective firefighting actions when the fire approached.

Deterioration of the security environment: After the fire spread, the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department said that the number of theft and robbery cases increased, and many people disguised as firefighters went in and out.

Policy mistakes:

Problems with housing insurance policies: Several insurance companies in California suddenly raised housing fire insurance premiums on a large scale a few weeks before the wildfires broke out, or simply canceled fire insurance, resulting in no compensation for affected residents. In order to quell public grievances, California issued regulations prohibiting insurance companies from arbitrarily raising premiums. As a result, many insurance companies chose to unilaterally terminate insurance contracts with customers or even withdraw from the California market, leaving many families penniless when the fires raged.

Inadequate forest management policies: From a federal perspective, funding and support for forest management have gradually decreased in recent years, making it difficult to sustain forest maintenance and vegetation clearing in many areas. Although local governments have formulated many fire prevention regulations, their actual implementation is ineffective due to insufficient manpower and regulatory omissions.

Unreasonable land planning: From 1990 to 2020, California built nearly 1.5 million new homes at the junction of nature and cities. These wooden houses are exposed to the path where wildfires can drive straight in. Wooden houses are flammable. Once caught fire, the fire can spread quickly.