Officials across the Los Angeles area had plenty of warning that a deadly confluence of wind and drought was coming. A bad fire was likely. Did they do enough to get ready?
Burned homes in the rain on Jan. 26 after the Eaton fire in Altadena, Calif. There were problems with the public alert system in the area of the fire, which was even deadlier than the one in the Palisades.
The blazes killed 29 people and are estimated to have caused more than $250bn in damages
The Palisades and Eaton wildfires, which killed at least 29 people and burned across about 60 sq miles (155 sq km) around Los Angeles, have been fully contained.
California’s department of forestry and fire protection’s announcement on Friday came more than three weeks after the two blazes battered this highly populated area of southern California, laying waste to entire neighborhoods – including Pacific Palisades and Altadena. Containment refers to how much of a perimeter has been established around a fire to prevent it from growing, according to NBC News.
Magnificent, irreplaceable 20th-century architecture made with craft and imagination was destroyed in the Palisades wildfires
Pacific Palisades and its surrounding neighbourhoods, which have burned so ferociously over the past three weeks, happen to be the location of some beautiful and magnificent 20th-century architecture. Or were, as the fire has taken a terrible toll.
Houses by the émigré Austrian modernist Richard Neutra have gone, as have most of the Park Planned Homes of 1948, an idealistic experiment in affordable modern living by the architect Gregory Ain. Stone chimney stacks are all that remain of the scaled-up cabin that was Will Rogers’ ranch house. His 30-horse stables, in their centre a rotonda like an equine chapter house, are ashes.
Palestinians return to Gaza, Americans survey the aftermath of the Palisades fire and Hindus gather at the Shahi Snan in India: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists
• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing
The source of more than half of all wildfires in the Western US remains unknown, so the US Forest Service has teamed up with computer scientists to create tools that can find answers.
After the devastation of the Los Angeles fires, officials are ready to rebuild. But defending against future fires requires thinking about more than buildings.
Melted plastic pipes and drastic water-pressure drops are potentially leaching toxic chemicals and contaminants into local supplies. Multiple water authorities in north Los Angeles have issued Do Not Drink notices.
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