The number of deaths from the wildfires that destroyed entire communities in the Los Angeles area in January 2025 has risen to 29, the county medical examiner’s office said.

Wildfires are endemic to California and natives used fire to shape the land. Orange County and California must learn from the wildfires and decades of government failure in Los Angeles County, and prevent the next disaster.

Climate change helped to set the stage for the devastating Los Angeles fires this month, a new study by 32 researchers shows. The Palisades and Eaton wildfires broke out in early January and soon killed at least 28 people,