A destroyed home in Malibu on Jan 13.
Photographer: Eric Thayer/Getty Images
The LA Wildfires Should Change the Way We Live
Few infernos in American history have led to shifts in how the country plans cities, builds structures and insures against risk.
It may be weeks, and likely months, before we have the full measure of the catastrophe wrought by the Los Angeles fires. It’s possible the scale, at least in terms of property damage, will exceed any urban inferno in living American memory — and that’s before we can predict when firefighters will be able to contain the flames.
But it is not too early to ask whether the conflagration will actually change anything. Experts have for years discussed what reforms are needed to mitigate the risks of major fires in California: stricter building and maintenance codes, better allocation of firefighting resources and smarter community design that includes built-in fire breaks. In some especially fire-prone areas, it may be necessary to prevent rebuilding outright.