The family of 73-year-old Priscilla Shurney, who died two days after a rushed evacuation, told the LA Times their relative would still be alive if timely warnings had been given.
Park Williams, a geography professor at the University of California, said that while climate change had made the vegetation that served as fuel drier than it would otherwise have been, “the real reason they become disasters is that homes have been built in areas where fast-moving, high-intensity fires are inevitable”.
“Communities can’t build back the same, because it will only be a matter of years before these burned areas are vegetated again and a high potential for fast-moving fire returns to these landscapes,” he added.
Despite warnings like this, many residents have said they will rebuild their burned-down homes – and Newsom has promised to put public money towards reconstruction efforts.
Singh warned that in Los Angeles and globally, there has been an increase in building in the interface between wildlands and cities. She gave the example of the Greek capital Athens, which has a similar Mediterranean climate to southern California and suffered from climate-driven fires this summer.
Trump vows action on disasters
In his inauguration speech on January 20, Trump – a climate change sceptic – said the LA fires had been burning for weeks “without even a token of defense”.
He noted that the disaster had affected “some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country” who lost their homes to the flames.
“That’s interesting. But we can’t let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That’s going to change,” he said, without elaborating on how his government would act.
Later, while visiting storm-hit North Carolina and fire-stricken California, the president said he would sign an executive order to overhaul or get rid of the main federal agency that responds to emergencies, calling it a “disaster” and saying he preferred to give federal money to states to handle catastrophes themselves.
