The state’s insurance industry was reformed in late 2024 to promote coverage in disaster-prone areas. Tens of billions in fire damage will stress-test the new regime.

Hundreds of incarcerated firefighters, who are trained to respond to emergencies and disasters, were reportedly deployed in Los Angeles.

A study published Thursday has put the blame for the wildfires ravaging parts of Los Angeles on an emerging climate phenomenon: hydroclimate whiplash. This latest disaster comes on the heels of years of unprecedented weather swings, where periods of above-average rainfall are followed by extensive droughts.

Out-of-control wildfires are ripping across parts of Los Angeles, leading to at least five deaths, burning down hundreds of buildings, and prompting more than 130,000 people to flee their homes in America's second-largest city.

The massive Palisades Fire broke out in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, prompting mandatory evacuations affecting tens of thousands of people and highway closures. Later Tuesday, the Eaton Fire broke out in the foothills of Pasadena on the other side of Los Angeles County.

Firefighters began to slow the spread of deadly and devastating fires in the Los Angeles area Thursday after the ferocious winds that drove the fast-moving flames diminished, but the largest blazes still burned out of control.

The major fires in the Los Angeles area have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.