Los Angeles needs fireproof communities, not just homes

The planners and residents working to rebuild Los Angeles won’t be starting from a blank slate, however. Existing roads, infrastructure, and land locations are all shaping how the city is rebuilt. Some residents may want to rebuild immediately on the same plot of land, while some may be willing to sell their land to create a buffer zone.

On January 13, Mayor Bass issued an executive order that will expedite permits to rebuild “like for like” and exempt these from reviews that slow down the rebuilding process. Governor Newsom also relaxed permitting rules under the California Environmental Quality Act to speed up rebuilding.

Exactly how LA then chooses to rebuild is a “question of social values,” says Moritz. “It’s no longer a question of science. Shouldn’t we, as a society, be able to weigh where and how people build or rebuild, so it’s safer and has less impact from a public funding perspective down the road ? Because many of these events will happen again.”

Wildfires in California have grown larger and more damaging in recent years. About 7.08 million acres burned in California between 2009 and 2018 – more than double burnt area between 1979 and 1988. The number of fires breaking out in urban areas has also increased. In the 10 years between 1979 and 1988, about 22,000 hectares of land burned occurred in so-called wildland/urban-area interfaces where housing is close to fire-prone nature. From 2009 to 2018 that increased to 32,000 hectares.

One result of all this is that Californian authorities have good maps of high-risk areas. Many of the areas affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires have been classified as very high fire risk areaswhich means that new developments in these areas must take steps to minimize the risk of fire spreading from wild vegetation to homes, including planting fire-resistant vegetation and keeping any other trees and shrubs trimmed and away from the houses.

But the demand for housing is so high in cities like Los Angeles that developers often end up building in these very high fire risk areas. After a fire, developers tend to slow down building in high-risk areas for a while, but after a couple of years they return to previous development rates, says Nicholas Irwin, who studies real estate economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. .

Cities and local authorities need to think of ways to discourage development in high-risk areas, says Irwin. One way would be to increase development rates in fire-prone areas, but another would be to encourage developers to infill—building more houses and apartments in underutilized urban areas.

“We need more dense development, especially in places like Los Angeles. The real estate market is out of control, and it’s going to get worse,” he says. “We need to think of ways to rebuild that allow more units to be built to help accessibility, but also ways that are more resistant to future fire risks.”

Burying power lines could also go a long way in defending homes against fire hazards. The fire that destroyed Paradise has been shared due to a power line fault, like at least seven other of California’s most destructive fires. Burying power lines isn’t cheap, either these costs have passed on utility customers, many of whom do not live in fire risk areas.

“It’s these little things that would make a difference in the long run,” says Irwin. Burying power lines, encouraging denser development, and building more defensible communities. But these long-term investments require changing the way people think about living in fire-risk areas and accepting that more resilient communities come at a cost. “I just don’t know if we’re going to learn anything,” says Irwin.