2024 was "a year of growth," according to fire-suppression company Fire Rover, but that's not an entirely good thing.
The company, which offers fire detection and suppression systems based on thermal and optical imaging, smoke analytics, and human verification, releases annual reports on waste and recycling facility fires in the US and Canada to select industry and media. In 2024, Fire Rover, based on its fire identifications, saw 2,910 incidents, a 60 percent increase from the 1,809 in 2023, and more than double the 1,409 fires confirmed in 2022.
Publicly reported fire incidents at waste and recycling facilities also hit 398, a new high since Fire Rover began compiling its report eight years ago, when that number was closer to 275.
Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso is not backing the recall effort against Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, his former opponent.
"A mayoral recall right now is not a good idea. This is a time when Los Angeles needs unity, not costly and expensive political distractions," he posted on X earlier this week.
"We must rebuild our communities, get people back into their homes, and open businesses that have been closed or lost. That must be our total focus. There is a time and place for politics, but it is not now."
The effort to remove Karen Bass from office kicked off after intense criticism of her response to the fires that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Pacific Palisades, including from Caruso, a Democrat.
Bass was in Ghana when the fires began despite a prior weather warning, for which she has since expressed remorse. But she has stopped short of stepping down. She also recently sacked the city's fire chief, Kristin Crowley, who failed to get her job back after appealing.
Caruso, a real estate mogul, ran against Bass in 2022 and lost, and itβs unclear if he plans to run against her again in 2026.
His decision not to support the recall caught the attention of former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vice presidential pick Nicole Shanahan, a major supporter of the recall.
"Donβt people deserve accountability?!" she said in reply to his post on X. "I donβt see this as political divisionβ¦ I see this as LA being the most united Iβve ever seen it around the real cost of mismanagement. The recall team is [100%] bi-partisan."
"People want competency in their leadership," Caruso responded. "But a recall election doesnβt happen overnight. It would run into Juneβs primary and cost the city millions we don't have. Let's be smart about how we move the city forward."
The disagreement led to a mix of opinions on the recall itself.
"βCheaper to keep her' is that really your argument? Recalling her forthwith will likely be cheaper than keeping her in place (see: recent $200 billion fire that destroyed my family home). Shouldnβt this be up to the voters and not you anyway, Rick?" Tranquility AI co-founder Dave Harvilicz posted.
"Disagree Rick. [Karen Bass] poses a clear and present danger to LA. She must go immediately," Biotech entrepreneur Houman David Hemmati posted. "If you donβt want a recall, persuade her to resign. No other options. Sorry."
However, some did agree with Caruso that a recall election would be an uphill battle.
"The premise of [Caruso]βs decision not to back a recall (which is correct) is precisely BECAUSE it is the best interest of LA not to waste everyoneβs time and energy on recall that is destined to fail and further demoralize voters at the worst possible time," Los Angeles County GOP Central Committee member Elizabeth Barcohana tweeted.
To trigger a recall election, a petition would need signatures from 15% of registered voters in the City of Los Angeles.
"This recall is nothing more than another extreme right-wing political stunt designed to divide Los Angeles when we need to move forward," Doug Herman, a strategist for Bass, told Fox News Digital in a statement when the campaign first launched.
Buckley and his family moved into their new home on their Malibu property in June 2021, even as construction on it continued.
Courtesy of William Buckley
Rebuilding what's been destroyed by a wildfire is supremely challenging, victims said.
Efforts have been hindered by underinsurance, permitting delays, and the rising costs of materials.
Fire victims also struggle with the emotional toll of losing their homes and fear of future disasters.
When Bill and Leslie Bixley lost their Malibu home of 20 years to a wildfire, they knew they would rebuild. But they didn't know they'd face years of red tape and heartache.
"The initial shock of losing material possessions is rough," said Bill, a retired teacher. "But the roughest part was getting the permits and getting through the bureaucracy."
BI talked with four homeowners who lost their houses to the 2018 Woolsey firein LA and Ventura Counties about what it's been like to piece their homes back together β and whether it was worth doing.
Two families told BI that if they'd known how challenging the rebuilding process would be, they might have walked away years ago. But two others said they're glad they held onto their properties and rebuilt the lives they had there. They all said that rebuilding was much more challenging than they'd hoped.
"I don't know if there's anybody I've talked to who lost their place and went through any of this that it didn't completely change their life and traumatize them in some way," Bill Bixley said.
William Buckley's Malibu home was destroyed by the 2018 Woolsey fire.
Courtesy of William Buckley
Struggling with underinsurance
Fortunately, all four families who lost their houses had home insurance. But some of them discovered after the fire that their insurance policies wouldn't cover the full cost of rebuilding β or of the personal belongings they lost.
William Buckley, a Malibu native who works in financial services, said he had a good experience with his provider β AAA home insurance β after the fire. It was quick to send him his initial payouts and responsive to his requests.
"We were never left in the lurch," Buckley said. "We were never left holding an invoice and waiting for money."
Jon Krawczyk's Malibu property after the Woolsey fire.
Courtesy of Jon Krawczyk
But Buckley quickly learned that he was underinsured. While he ultimately received about $1.1 million in insurance payouts, he said, he spent about $1.6 million, he said. He took out a FEMA disaster relief loan and got much-needed cash from Southern California Edison's $2.2 billion legal settlement. But he and his wife still depleted their savings to cover the rest of the costs. They weren't alone. "Every one of my neighbors I knew was underinsured," Buckley said.
Richard Gibbs, a film and TV composer and owner of Woodshed Recording studio, had a much less positive experience with his home insurance provider, State Farm. Gibbs struggled to get the company to cover rent on the temporary home he and his family wanted to live in. When Gibbs realized that he'd lost all of his original scores, which an appraiser valued at $2.1 million, State Farm refused to reimburse more than $5,000 for them, Gibbs said.
The problem of underinsurance is widespread: A study published last year of wildfire-related insurance claims in Colorado found that nearly three-quarters of those affected by the Marshall Fire of 2021 weren't fully covered by their policies. Rebuilding a home in the future β and replacing everything in it β often costs much more than its current value, as estimated by an insurance company. Policies that cover the cash value of a home rather than the full cost of replacing it often leave homeowners without enough funds to rebuild. Gibbs and his wife ended up suing State Farm for allegedly underpaying and delaying their claims. They settled for an amount Gibbs said he couldn't disclose.
When Gibbs talks to other homeowners worried about a potential future wildfire, he tells them all one thing: "Make sure that your insurance policy truly covers your house in case it burns down because most do not," he said.
State Farm didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Buckley and his family moved into their new home on their Malibu property in June 2021, even as construction on it continued.
Courtesy of William Buckley
An endless permitting process
Some fire victims struggled with city and other government permitting processes to rebuild, despite local authorities' promises to fast-track them.
Jon Krawczyk, a metal sculptor who also lost his home in Malibu, said authorities required him to rebuild the same structures he had before, even though he wanted one building instead of three and less square footage.
"There was no wisdom," Krawczyk said of the permitting process, adding that local authorities weren't flexible with the rules, even when his plans would've resulted in less construction.
Ballooning construction costs
Many fire victims said the cost of construction was ultimately much higher than they'd expected. Some homeowners were in the middle of the rebuilding process when COVID-19 hit, and demand for housing, construction materials, and labor soared. The pandemic also snarled building material supply chains, sending prices even higher.
Buckley and his family moved into their new home in June 2021, even as they continued construction on it. "It was just a structure in a rubble field, basically," he said. The home and landscaping were completed at the end of 2023, almost exactly five years after the fire.
William Buckley's home was finally completed five years after the November 2018 Woolsey fire.
Courtesy of William Buckley
As Gibbs hopes to finally break ground on his new home this year, he's bracing for increased competition for building materials and labor, given that many victims of the Palisades and Eaton fires will likely also want to start rebuilding as quickly as possible.
Moving on β or away
Despite designing their new homes to be far more resistant to future fires, some who've rebuilt live in fear of the next major disaster. Many are also struggling with the lasting emotional toll of losing their homes.
The devastating LA wildfires this winter, which also destroyed homes in Malibu, have exacerbated that fear. It's not just neighborhoods nestled into the hills or near the urban-wildland interface that can feel vulnerable these days.
"You could be in the middle of LA, and a fire can sweep through the neighborhood with the kind of winds we have," Buckley said.
The Bixleys were so traumatized by their experience β and fearful of future fires, that they moved out of Malibu and leased their home to victims of the most recent LA fires. They're living in a rental home in Fresno as they decide what to do next.
Krawczyk and his wife are hoping to move into their new home this spring, six and a half years after the fire.
Courtesy of Jon Krawczyk
"This last fire was so horrific, and we've just been so stressed out and traumatized from the experience, even though we've done everything in our power to fireproof our house," Leslie said. "We went through all that heartache, but it still didn't take away the pain and the fear of this happening."
Many of the Bixley's neighbors never rebuilt their homes, so their neighborhood still "looks like somebody who's lost half their teeth," Bill said. The couple said they know many others who also fear future fires and want to leave Malibu.
Gibbs said he's also considered leaving LA County because of "the insanity of the costs and insurance" made worse by the recent fires.
Buckley said that, for a long time, it was hard for him to talk with anyone who hadn't lost their home to a fire about the experience. He felt he'd joined a "club" of fire victims.
"At first, you don't even want to communicate with your old club, you're in this different club now," Buckley said. "They don't understand the extent of the trauma. It's hard to communicate that to anybody."
Have you been affected by a wildfire or other natural disaster? Contact this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com.
Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso is not backing the recall effort against Democratic Mayor Karen Bass, his former opponent.
"A mayoral recall right now is not a good idea. This is a time when Los Angeles needs unity, not costly and expensive political distractions," he posted on X earlier this week.
"We must rebuild our communities, get people back into their homes, and open businesses that have been closed or lost. That must be our total focus. There is a time and place for politics, but it is not now."
The effort to remove Karen Bass from office kicked off after intense criticism of her response to the fires that destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in the Pacific Palisades, including from Caruso, a Democrat.
Bass was in Ghana when the fires began despite a prior weather warning, for which she has since expressed remorse. But she has stopped short of stepping down. She also recently sacked the city's fire chief, Kristin Crowley, who failed to get her job back after appealing.
Caruso, a real estate mogul, ran against Bass in 2022 and lost, and itβs unclear if he plans to run against her again in 2026.
His decision not to support the recall caught the attention of former Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vice presidential pick Nicole Shanahan, a major supporter of the recall.
"Donβt people deserve accountability?!" she said in reply to his post on X. "I donβt see this as political divisionβ¦ I see this as LA being the most united Iβve ever seen it around the real cost of mismanagement. The recall team is [100%] bi-partisan."
"People want competency in their leadership," Caruso responded. "But a recall election doesnβt happen overnight. It would run into Juneβs primary and cost the city millions we don't have. Let's be smart about how we move the city forward."
The disagreement led to a mix of opinions on the recall itself.
"βCheaper to keep her' is that really your argument? Recalling her forthwith will likely be cheaper than keeping her in place (see: recent $200 billion fire that destroyed my family home). Shouldnβt this be up to the voters and not you anyway, Rick?" Tranquility AI co-founder Dave Harvilicz posted.
"Disagree Rick. [Karen Bass] poses a clear and present danger to LA. She must go immediately," Biotech entrepreneur Houman David Hemmati posted. "If you donβt want a recall, persuade her to resign. No other options. Sorry."
However, some did agree with Caruso that a recall election would be an uphill battle.
"The premise of [Caruso]βs decision not to back a recall (which is correct) is precisely BECAUSE it is the best interest of LA not to waste everyoneβs time and energy on recall that is destined to fail and further demoralize voters at the worst possible time," Los Angeles County GOP Central Committee member Elizabeth Barcohana tweeted.
To trigger a recall election, a petition would need signatures from 15% of registered voters in the City of Los Angeles.
"This recall is nothing more than another extreme right-wing political stunt designed to divide Los Angeles when we need to move forward," Doug Herman, a strategist for Bass, told Fox News Digital in a statement when the campaign first launched.
Driven by freak environmental conditions, including prolonged drought and strong winds, the LA fires quickly grew to the point they were nigh-on impossible to contain, pushing firefighters and fire-monitoring systems to their absolute limit.
As the city rebuilds, California's fire-fighting division is looking to change that.
The state's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire, is partnering with a group of organizations building the Firesat network, a constellation of over 50 low-orbit satellites that aims to revolutionize the way we tackle mega-blazes.
In these fires, every second counts. Brian Collins, executive director of the Earth Fire Alliance, the nonprofit organization behind Firesat, told Business Insider that current fire monitoring systems are often too slow to give firefighters a clear picture of these rapidly unfolding conflagrations.
"In extreme circumstances, like we see in California with wind-driven fires, you have very little time to make those critical decisions. The faster you can make them, the easier it is to contain that fire," Collins said.
He said Firesat would significantly improve the ability to track wildfires compared to the current system, which is mostly made up of weather satellites, some of which are run by the US and European Union.
Muon Space's Firesat prototype satellite was launched earlier in March.
Muon Space
Collins said these satellites are designed to track large, intense fires and scan the globe relatively infrequently.
By contrast, the infrared sensors on Firesat's satellites will be able to track smaller low-intensity fires the size of a classroom and β once the 50-satellite network is up and running β will be able to observe the entire globe in 15-20-minute intervals.
"In terms of fire detection, that is a dramatic, hundred-fold difference from current systems," said Collins.
Fighting fires smarter
Space startup Muon Space is designing and building the satellites.
On March 14, it successfully launched a pathfinder prototype satellite aboard a SpaceX rocket. The prototype launch lays the ground for the planned launch of the first three Firesat satellites into orbit in June 2026.
Muon Space president Gregory Smirin told BI in an interview before the launch that this initial first phase will be able to scan every point in the globe twice a day, and be able to identify fires as small as five by five meters.
"We have sparse data, to be polite about it, as to how many fires there are all over the world and what the incident rate is. The goal is to be able to get to a point where we can get a much richer dataset about what the actual behavior is," said Smirin.
"If you're able to track hot spots and fires early, you can even identify where there are maybe fires that might be smoldering or low intensity ahead of high wind events," he said, adding that this would allow firefighters to send resources to these smaller blazes before they become too large to contain.
Firesat also has backing from Google Research, and last week's launch was praised by Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet.
Collins said Google's AI and machine learning expertise would play a crucial role in sifting through the vast quantities of data the constellation is expected to generate.
He added that with the funding the Earth Fire Alliance has received from partners such as Google's philanthropy arm and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the group was committed to providing the data from Firesat to public safety agencies for free.
Collins said the Alliance was already partnering with fire responders such as Cal Fire to understand how they might use the data.
A spokesperson for Cal Fire confirmed the agency's interest in Firesat to Business Insider.
The satellites will be designed and built by the end-to-end space company Muon Space.
Muon Space
They added that the agency's primary interest in the satellite network was in providing more persistent coverage of fires that are actively growing or being contained.
Smirin said he believed Cal Fire was interested in integrating Firesat into its emergency dispatch service, allowing the agency to validate which fires were growing quickly rather than wasting resources by dispatching crews to check on them.
"We're definitely getting more extreme weather and more frequent fire, and we're getting fire spreading in areas that it didn't use to," said Smirin.
"I think you're just seeing more extreme weather in all sorts of ways, and it's putting a lot more pressure on firefighters to figure out how to respond, he added.
Jon Krawczyk's Malibu property after the Woolsey fire.
Courtesy of Jon Krawczyk
Six years after LA County's Woolsey fire, many destroyed homes haven't been rebuilt.
Rebuilding is costly, emotionally taxing, and often delayed by complex red tape.
Two families say they might not have rebuilt their homes if they'd understood how hard it would be.
Thousands of homeowners in Los Angeles are figuring out a way forward after the Palisades and Eaton fires destroyed 16,000 homes and properties across the county. But some of their neighbors who lost their homes in past fires warn that rebuilding will likely be harder than expected.
Two families whose Malibu homes burned down in the 2018 Woolsey fire told BI they might have sold their properties and moved on if they'd known how lengthy, complicated, expensive, and emotionally taxing the rebuilding process would be.
That might be why, more than six years after the Woolsey fire destroyed more than 1,600 structures and burned 97,000 acres, only about 40% of the homes that were lost have been replaced.
Construction costs will likely be even higher for victims of LA's most recent fires, as the scale of the destruction far outstrips past fires and will squeeze a building industry already facing a labor shortage, elevated building material costs, and overwhelming demand.
Losing a home filled with art
Jon Krawczyk always knew there was a chance he could lose his Malibu home to a wildfire. But he didn't really believe it until it happened.
"They say there's a reason young men go to war because they don't think they're going to die, right?" he told BI. "I left thinking I'll come back tomorrow, and it'll be here."
It's been two and half years since Krawczyk, a metal sculptor, and his wife, an art consultant, finally broke ground on rebuilding their home of 18 years. That came after a seemingly endless back-and-forth with government officials over permitting and approvals for their project. Krawczyk said authorities required them to rebuild the same structures they had before, even though they wanted one building instead of three, and less square footage.
Krawczyk, who lost his studio and all his equipment on the property, said he initially thought rebuilding would cost about $1.6 million and take about three years, but it's ended up costing north of $2.2 million and taken close to six years.
The Krawczyks had paid off the mortgage on their home six months before the fire and were able to evacuate with their two teenage kids to a family home. A few months later, they used their insurance payout to buy a home in nearby Thousand Oaks, where they've lived since 2019.
While they received their maximum insurance payout and money from a $2.2 billion settlement with Southern California Edison, they lost their insurance provider and had to resort to California's FAIR Plan, the state's insurer of last resort. The plan has high premiums and caps payouts at $3 million.
The couple hopes to get the final occupancy permit and move into their new house this spring in time to host their son's wedding. But if Krawczyk could turn back time, he's not sure he would've gone through with rebuilding.
"If I knew then what I know now, I may have just walked away," he said, "because it is not fun."
Krawczyk and his wife hope to move into their new home this spring, six and a half years after they lost their old one.
Courtesy of Jon Krawczyk
Leaving Malibu
Bill and Leslie Bixley had lived in their home in the Malibu hills for about 20 years when the Woolsey fire reduced it to ash.
It didn't take long for the couple to get their first payout from their insurance company, but it took about two years to get the permits and other approvals they needed to begin construction on the new, more fire-resistant home.
"The initial shock of losing material possessions is rough," Bill said. "But the roughest part, actually, for me anyway, was getting the permits and getting through the bureaucracy."
But the couple was determined to rebuild, so they pushed ahead and completed the home about four years after the fire.
While the rebuild made sense financially, the Bixleys said that with the benefit of hindsight, they might not have done it.
"It wasn't worth the pain," Leslie said. "Looking back on it, I wouldn't do it again, I don't think."
Bill and Leslie Bixler's rebuilt home in Malibu.
Courtesy of Bill Bixler
But years later, the new house still doesn't feel like home.
They miss Bill's 70-year-old teddy bear and Leslie's mother's Steinway grand piano, which they lost in the fire. Without many of its old trees, the property has lost some of its spirit. "We had to put so much concrete in to make it fire-safe that we feel like we're in a Lexus commercial," Leslie said. "It's just not the folksy place it was."
The Bixleys are also traumatized by their experience β and fearful of future fires, so they moved out of Malibu for the time being and leased their home to victims of the most recent LA fires. They're living in a rental home in Fresno as they decide what to do next.
"This last fire was so horrific, and we've just been so stressed out and traumatized from the experience, even though we've done everything in our power to fireproof our house," Leslie said. "We went through all that heartache, but it still didn't take away the pain and the fear of this happening."
Many of the Bixley's neighbors never rebuilt their homes, so their neighborhood still "looks like somebody who's lost half their teeth," Bill said. The couple said they know many others who also fear future fires and want to leave Malibu.
But if you're determined to rebuild, you can, Bill said.
"You can't get beaten down," he said. "You can always do it, just when you think it's over, it's not."
Has your home been impacted by a wildfire or other natural disaster? Contact this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com.
A property went up in flames behind a sign marking the road into the Getty Villa.
David Swanson / Contributor / Getty Images
The Getty Villa survived the Pacific Palisades fire, aided by its construction and technology.
The museum's staff also spent days protecting the property and its artifacts from flames and smoke.
Photos from the Getty Villa after the fire show what it takes to keep an at-risk estate safe.
When fire razed the Pacific Palisades in January, the Getty Villa proved itself to be practically impenetrable.
Built like a fortress and outfitted with state-of-the-art firefighting infrastructure, this museum, a replica of an ancient Roman estate, remained standing as nearby homes burned down.
The facility's emergency preparedness specialist, Les Borsay, gave Business Insider a tour of the villa just weeks after he and a team of about 17 employees fought the flames encroaching on the property.
"It's not luck that this place is still here," he said.
In an era of megafires that can threaten urban areas like Los Angeles, the Getty Villa shows what it can take to keep an at-risk estate safe.
The Palisades fire sped down a hillside toward the Getty Villa on January 7, starting days of firefighting.
The Getty Villa sits below a dry, fire-prone hillside.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
"It was a little shocking how fast it moved," said Borsay, who was on-site when the fire broke out.
The museum is closed to visitors on Tuesdays, so there were no guests to evacuate.
The villa is a museum of the J. Paul Getty Trust. It houses a collection of ancient Greek and Roman art.
Artifacts inside the villa are sensitive to changes in humidity and temperature.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
The trust possesses the largest endowment of any museum in the world, estimated at more than $8 billion in 2023.It also includes the Getty Center, an art museum 13 miles away in the Brentwood area, which has survived its own brushes with fire.
Most buildings on the property are made of concrete with a tile roof, which is quite fire-resistant.
"Everybody always told me about the James Bond-like construction of our sites," Katherine E. Fleming, the president and CEO of the Getty Trust, said in a press release after the fire. "And then I actually saw it in action. It is pretty astonishing."
Still, the facility staff had already sprung into action when they heard a fire had started in the Palisades that morning.
Les Borsay in the villa gardens, which survived the fire.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
They wanted to prevent as many spot fires as possible β ignitions of vegetation, cars, or smaller wood structures β and protect the museum's art from smoke or changes in humidity.
Staff also moved cars into the underground concrete parking garage.
They taped up doors to prevent smoke from seeping into rooms where ancient artwork is kept.
Staff lined the cracks around the museum's doors with orange and blue tape.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
The particulate matter in smoke can damage art and ancient artifacts.
They shut off the museum's HVAC system to outside air.
This peaceful courtyard was filled with smoke during the fire.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
If pressure indoors was lower than pressure outdoors, the system could suck in smoke.
The fire was approaching the Ranch House, which came with the property when J. Paul Getty bought it after World War II.
J. Paul Getty's Ranch House is up against the wooded hillside where fire first approached the property.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
He added a second floor and filled the house with his growing art collection.
All vents into the house's attic area are fitted with mesh, Borsay said, to prevent embers from flying in and starting fires inside.
Vents like this are fitted with mesh to block flying embers.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Ignition-prevention experts have told Business Insider they recommend homeowners install noncombustible, eighth-inch mesh screening on all vents on the outside of their homes.
Still, the fire's proximity made Borsay nervous until the Los Angeles Fire Department dropped water to snuff it out.
Fire trucks went in and out of the villa that day because of its central location and 50,000-gallon underground water tank.
This riser helps push water from the underground reservoir to the building's sprinkler system.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
"If we have a place that's safe, a place with water, they're going to come in and use it to be able to protect us and our surrounding area," Borsay said.
Sharing the water is the neighborly thing to do, he said, but also, "if our neighbors start going down, that could impact us."
Fire hydrants across the museum estate can help fight any fires on-site. They draw from the underground water tank, which feeds automatic sprinklers inside the Getty buildings.
One of several fire hydrants stationed across the property.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Staff members took turns putting on N95s and goggles, grabbing fire extinguishers, and spending up to 30 minutes outside spraying spot fires. None of them were trained firefighters, but they all had basic fire extinguisher training.
Bushes, vines, and trees were catching fire from all the flying embers. Putting out those fires early helped prevent the flames from spreading.
Borsay said everybody was allowed to leave but many people chose to stay behind to protect the estate and its ancient statues and artifacts.
"This is everybody's shared cultural history that we're the stewards of," he said.
Unlike the Ranch House, the villa building was "built like a vault," Borsay said.
The villa's Roman design is conveniently fire-resistant.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
The villa's concrete and travertine construction makes its walls virtually unburnable.
"Concrete's lovely. The brutalists were right," Borsay said.
Getty had the villa constructed in the 1960s and '70s as a replica of the Villa dei Papiri in the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum.
This stuff does not burn.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
In AD 79, the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius buried the city and the villa.
"He knew that this place burned," Borsay said of J. Paul Getty. "I think that that's part of the reason why it was built the way it was."
Ash lined an outdoor stairway up to the villa's second floor.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Fire is a natural part of the Santa Monica mountains' ecosystem, so brush fires are common.
Fire-rated doors also protect the artworks and artifacts inside the building.
These iron doors, as well as entryways that involve walking through two sets of doors, help protect the ancient artwork inside.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
"You can imagine some of our lenders were a little concerned," Borsay said, so he sent them videos of the art inside to show it was safe.
When fire burned through a corridor of trees on the estate, Borsay wasn't worried about the villa building itself.
Scorched trees where the Palisades fire encroached onto the Getty Villa property.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
He was, however, keeping an eye on a nearby elevator shaft.
"All around this elevator it was just huge flames. That was probably the part I was most concerned about," Borsay said.
This elevator shaft was a significant opening into a villa building.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
It's an outdoor elevator, going from the estate's entrance to the outdoor auditorium, but it's also connected to indoor areas. So if fire had gotten into the elevator, it could have spread inside an auxiliary building.
Windows are another major vulnerability for any structure, so keeping them clear of foliage is crucial.
There are vines surrounding this window, but no larger foliage like bushes or trees.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Borsay said the museum groundskeepers had been careful about that.
Landscaping is key to preventing the spread of fire.
Statues in the outdoor gardens are replicas, so embers and ash damaging them wasn't a major concern.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Wildfires often spread to new buildings through embers falling and gathering in flammable materials β like dry bushes, firewood piles, or dead leaves clogging roof gutters.
That's why ignition experts recommend keeping up with yard work and maintaining a 5-foot fuel-free zone around a house or building.
The museum has two gardens. Both were well watered, so even as embers rained down, they didn't burn.
The Roman herb garden at the villa is still lush and unburned.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
"We kept an eye on it, but I was less concerned about it," Borsay said. "And again, even if this area burns, it's going to be pretty safe inside."
The villa emerged ashy, but none of its structures burned. The Palisades fire burned for 24 days.
The green stuff in this pool is ash from the Palisades fire.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
Getty staff members began the long process of replacing damaged irrigation and sprinkler equipment, cleaning up ash, and monitoring the facility for looters or new fires.
Flames even reemerged on a hill near the parking lot a week after the fire had passed. Embers had been smoldering in the dirt.
By the time Business Insider visited the facility in February, most of the ash had already been cleared.
Bags of debris from the fire seen as workers continued to clean the villa.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen
There's still a lot of work to do. Conservators are assessing the art to ensure it wasn't damaged. The surrounding area is undergoing its own cleanup and rebuilding process. It's unclear when the museum will reopen.
Even so, the property is a world away from when it was covered in ash and soot.
"It's amazing how clean it looks like right now," Borsay said, "because I'll tell you in the days after, it just was a serious mess."
Google didn't explain exactly why it shipped a mandatory software update to the Pixel 4a, an Android phone from 2020, earlier this year. The nature of that update, which gave some models all but unusable battery life, provided some clues, as did later software analysis. But now, Australian authorities have provided a more concrete answer: battery overheating and fire risk.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) Product Safety arm issued a recall for the Pixel 4a late last week. The reason, the commission said, is that Google's firmware update and battery changes served to "mitigate the risk of overheating" because "an overheating battery could pose a risk of fire and/or burns to a user."
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ACCC Product Safety
In the US and elsewhere, Google's messaging did not use the term "recall." Google stated on its "Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program" page that "certain" Pixel 4a models "require a software update to improve the stability of their batteryβs performance," which also "reduces available battery capacity and impacts charging performance." Google said it is still safe to charge a Pixel 4a.
Brenda Duncan Cusick moved from Moorpark, California to Prescott, Arizona in 2020.
Brenda Duncan Cusick
Brenda Duncan Cusick moved from California to Arizona due to rising wildfire risks and living costs.
Cusick's monthly expenses dropped by a couple of thousand dollars living in Prescott, Arizona.
After retiring from the insurance industry, she started a local food tour.
After living in Moorpark, California, for nearly two decades, Brenda Duncan Cusick had become an expert in wildfire evacuations.
Cusick, 61, told Business Insider that she's had to flee the home she shared with her husband and two children at least five times. Moorpark is an hour's drive northwest of Los Angeles, close to where the deadly Woolsey Fire in 2018 destroyed tens of thousands of homes. Over time, she saw how the blazes were becoming more difficult to control.
The wildfires also affected Cusick's career as an insurance agent. Between 2015 and 2023, she sold homeowners, commercial, and auto policies, including for Farmers Insurance. But it became harder to keep and attract clients as rates tripled in some cases due to a combination of factors,including fire risks, the rising costs of reinsurance, and California regulations, Cusick said.
"I lost a lot of sales because people wanted to save on their insurance, but I would advise they carry more coverage," Cusick said. "They'd own a $1 million home and a small business, and I'd tell them they could lose everything they've worked for for being underinsured."
Cusick said that rising wildfire risks β combined with higher insurance premiums, utility bills, gas prices, and car registration fees for her family of four β made her realize it was impossible to retire in California.
She's not alone. Hundreds of thousands of Californians have moved out of the state in recent years, often driven by high prices and, in some cases, natural disaster risks.
Residents have among the highest average energy bills in the country, in part because utility companies have spent billions of dollars on wildfire-related costs that are partially passed on to customers. California also has aggressive climate policies that make oil and gas more expensive.
Willow Creek Reservoir in Prescott, Arizona.
Brenda Duncan Cusick
When the COVID-19 pandemic gave Cusick and her husband the freedom to work remotely in 2020, they decided to sell their home and move to Prescott, Arizona. They joined the many older Americans who have flocked to Arizona for retirement, citing lower costs of living and comfortable weather. While there is little data indicating climate-fueled disasters are directly causing massive migration, Cusick's story suggests that the costly ripple effects of wildfires on insurance and utility bills may help motivate people to leave their longtime homes.
Saving thousands a month and starting a local food tour
Cusick said that at first, it was "daunting" to consider leaving her home state.
"But once we did, we realized that there are so many lovely places to live all over the US," she said, adding that her monthly expenses have dropped by a couple of thousand dollars.
They downsized from their 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home in Moorpark to a 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom property in Prescott. Cusick said selling their California home gave them enough cash for a large down payment on the new place in Arizona. Their monthly mortgage payment is now $1,672, compared to $3,309 in California, according to bank statements reviewed by Business Insider. Their utility and HOA bills in Arizona average about $373 a month, while in California, they could range from about $400 to $1,200.
Cusick said Prescott reminds her of growing up in California.
"It's a very western town in the mountains of Arizona," she said, noting that Prescott is surrounded by a national forest.
Prescott was the capital of Arizona Territory until the late 1800s, and every Fourth of July, it hosts a big rodeo. The downtown reminds Cusick of a Hallmark move, she said. Prescott's history, cooler summer temperatures, and location between Phoenix and the Grand Canyon help it attract thousands of tourists every year.
After Cusick retired from the insurance industry, she got involved with a local charity and started the Prescott Food Tour.
"It's completely the opposite of selling boring, impossible insurance," she said. "I by no means make anywhere near what I did before, but when you're retired, you get to do things like this."
Do you have a story to share about leaving an area prone to wildfires or rising home insurance costs? Contact this reporter cboudreau@businessinsider.com.
Northwestern's women's basketball team will have to forfeit two of the games on its schedule after not traveling to Los Angeles during the devastating wildfires in January.
The Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday that Northwestern's games against UCLA on Jan. 12 and USC on Jan. 15 won't be rescheduled and instead will count as losses for the Wildcats and wins for the Southern California-based programs.
Northwestern athletics director Mark Jackson released a statement supporting his team's decision not to travel during the fires, and accepted the decision by the Big Ten.
"Northwestern Athletics accepts the decision by the Big Ten Conference to strictly apply the Conference bylaws as written, in issuing forfeits for missed competitions by Northwesternβs Womenβs Basketball after the teamβs decision not to travel to Los Angeles during the tragic wildfires in Southern California," Jackson wrote, per On3.
"While we acknowledge that bylaws and rules are in place for a reason and we will abide by them, it does not diminish this teamβs sound reasoning for not participating during this natural disaster. We will continue to support our Womenβs Basketball student-athletes and hope for a strong recovery for the Southern California region."
UCLA and USC, led by phenom JuJu Watkins, were already the two winningest teams in the conference so far this season. USC is in first place in the Big Ten with a 15-1 conference record as UCLA is in second at 14-1.
Meanwhile, Northwestern sits in 15th place with a 2-13 conference record, and is battling Purdue, Rutgers and Penn State for the final spot in the Big 10 tournament.
The fires impacted multiple sporting events in the Los Angeles and Anaheim area during the month of January, including a playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings, and Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers NBA games.
The city's local sports teams donated more than $8 million to support victims of the wildfires. Those teams included the Anaheim Ducks, Angel City FC, LAFC, LA Galaxy, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Sparks.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Friday announced that LAFD Fire Chief Kristin Crowley had been fired.
Crowley had criticized Bass and other Democratic leadership with the city, claiming it had failed its 100,000 residents displaced during Januaryβs wildfires.
Crowley said that pressing staffing shortages impacted the department's response time when the blaze began tearing across Los Angeles.
"Any budget cut is going to impact our ability to provide service," Crowley said in January. "That is a ground truth in regard to our ability. If there's a budget cut, we had to pull from somewhere else. What does that mean? That doesn't get done or that there are delays."
Crowley said that staffing shortages and lack of resources have been a pressing issue facing the LAFD for years. She pointed to a series of memos she sent to the city identifying in detail the needs of the department.
In a statement Friday, Bass said: "Acting in the best interests of Los Angelesβ public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as Fire Chief. We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowleyβs watch. Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the President of the Fire Commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires. The Chief refused. These require her removal. The heroism of our firefighters β during the Palisades fire and every single day β is without question. Bringing new leadership to the fire department is what our city needs."
She added, "While the Department is in the experienced and expert hands of Chief Villanueva, my office will lead a national search and I will speak directly with firefighters and Angelenos about what they want to see in their next permanent chief."
Republican Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in the last mayoral election, criticized Crowleyβs firing.
"It is very disappointing that Mayor Bass has decided to fire Chief Kristin Crowley," he wrote on X. "Chief Crowley served Los Angeles well and spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill-conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LAFD. That courage to speak the truth was brave, and I admire her. Honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense. The Mayor's decision to ignore the warnings and leave the city was hers alone. This is a time for city leaders to take responsibility for their actions and their decisions. We need real leadership, not more blame passing."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has come under intense scrutiny for traveling to Africa last month amid a botched fire response, is deflecting blame on the controversial trip.
"I felt absolutely terrible not being here for my city," Bass, a Democrat, told a Fox 11 Los Angeles reporter in a recent interview.
"Would I say it was a mistake, absolutely. The idea that I was not present was very painful," she added, saying that proper "preparation didn't happen" to notify her ahead of the Ghana trip.
She said she would not have even traveled south to San Diego had she been given the proper "preparation" about the fire danger.
"It didnβt reach that level to me to say 'Something terrible could happen and maybe you shouldnβt have gone on the trip,'" the Democrat added.
"I think thatβs one of the things we need to look at, everything that happened, including that, needs to be examined," she continued, revealing that there are at least two investigations into the city's response to the fires.
The National Weather Service put out the "fire weather warning" on Jan. 3 and the mayor left for Africa the next day. She did not return until Jan. 8, according to Fox 11 LA.
The fire in the Pacific Palisades ripped through the community, burning down thousands of homes and businesses.
In another interview with NBC Los Angeles, Bass conceded her Africa trip was "absolutely" a mistake and that she was working to regain the publicβs trust after facing backlash for her botched response to the raging fires in her city last month.
"Absolutely it is, and I think that I have to demonstrate that every day by showing what we're doing, what is working, what are the challenges," Bass told NBC Los Angeles when asked if sheβs trying to "regain confidence."
Bass was in Ghana for the swearing-in of its president when the fires began, even though there was a high fire risk known at the time. The Palisades Fire started Jan. 7 and escalated through the night, but the mayor did not get back into the city until Jan. 8, and she did not answer repeated questions from a Sky News reporter upon her arrival in the United States.
"Yes, it was an ambush, and I wasn't sure who he was. And that is unfortunate because I see the way that looks, as if I was avoiding, but when you're getting off a plane you've been on a plane for 17 hours and someone hits you with a camera, I wish, in hindsight, my response had been better," the mayor told Fox 11 Los Angeles when asked about the viral clip.
She also claimed that the Biden administration asked her to travel to Africa on their behalf during the Fox 11 interview.
Over 170,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for her to step down as mayor. The situation also resulted in public criticism of the mayor, ranging from former Democratic mayoral opponent Rick Caruso to liberal talk show host Bill Maher.
"LA's mayor, Karen Bass, the Nero of American politics, was fiddling in Ghana while the city burned," Maher said last month.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., suggested that Disney CEO Bob Iger run for mayor in 2026. When pressed on whether she took Khanna's comments personally, Bass shrugged it off.
"I am focused on one thing and one thing only, and that is to make sure that our city is able to recover and rebuild, and that all of those individuals that lived in the Palisades can go home," Bass told NBC Los Angeles.
Philippine Mars was painted navy blue to represent its storied naval service, unlike the other Mars aircraft, which were painted red and white for firefighting duty.
Coulson Aviation
The last Martin Mars flying boat completed its final flight last week.
Initially developed as a Navy patrol flying boat, the aircraft later served as cargo transport.
The Philippine Mars will be displayed at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona.
The last Martin Mars flying boat made its final flight last week, marking the end for a World War II-era seaplane so hulking it had rockets to assist with take-off.
Initially developed as maritime patrol flying boats for the US Navy, the Martin Mars fleet was later configured to operate as long-range transport aircraft. Some became water bombers to fight forest fires.
The Philippine Mars made its final landing at Lake Pleasant, Arizona, on February 10, where it is set to be partially disassembled and trucked to the Pima Air and Space Museum for installation as a permanent exhibition.
Tomorrow morning, the Philippine MARs will take to the skies one last time, aiming to depart from the bouy in Sproat Lake around 9:00 AM heading to San Francisco.
Against all odds, the team behind her has worked tirelessly to prepare her for this final journey to Arizona.
Four US Navy's Martin Mars flying boats fly in formation.
Naval History and Heritage Command
Founded by aviation pioneer Glenn L. Martin, the Martin Company developed and produced the Mars flying boat fleet for the US Navy. Best known for its contributions to military and commercial aviation, the American aircraft manufacturer was also behind innovative military bombers like the B-26 and B-10, which were widely used in World War II.
In the mid-1940s, seven Mars seaplanes were delivered to the Navy, scaled back from the 20 planes the sea service ordered following the end of WWII.
The first Mars prototype, dubbed "the Old Lady," was delivered in 1943. It was followed by the cargo variant of the Hawaii Mars, the Philippine Mars, the Marianas Mars, the Marshall Mars, the firefighting variant of the Hawaii Mars, and the Caroline Mars.
While most of the fleet has been scrapped, lost, or destroyed over the last eight decades, the second Hawaii Mars and the Philippine Mars survived to this day. The Hawaii Mars was donated to the British Columbia Aviation Museum in Canada, and the Philippine Mars will make its final home at the Pima Air and Space in Tucson, Arizona.
The Navy's largest World War II-era aircraft
A US Navy sailor assisted a passenger as she disembarked the Philippine Mars.
It measured nearly 120 feet in length and 200 feet in wingspan β roughly the size of a modern-day Boeing commercial airplane.
After the flying boats were reconfigured from patrol boats to cargo planes, the massive flying boat had a max takeoff weight of over 85 tons β or about 165,000 pounds. It could accommodate a 32,000-pound payload, including up to seven military jeeps.
Rocket-powered takeoffs
The Philippine Mars taxied in a circle during flight tests above San Francisco Bay.
Naval History and Heritage Command
Despite its hulking size, the four-engined flying boats had a maximum speed of over 200 mph. The aircraft had a service ceiling of up to 14,600 feet and a range of 4,900 nautical miles.
The aircraft were propelled by small rockets known as jet-assisted take-off bottles equipped under the wings. These small rockets provided extra thrust to help them get airborne quicker or take off with heavier payloads.
Setting world records
The cockpit of the Philippine Mars.
Coulson Aviation
The Mars seaplanes were operated by a crew of four comprising pilots, engineers, and ground crew. It also had accommodations for a relief team.
The aircraft could also transport over 130 fully-equipped troops, or 84 litter patients and 25 attendants.
In March 1949, the Caroline Mars, set a world record for airlifting passengers on a single flight, carrying 269 people from San Diego to San Francisco.
But the youngest Mars flying boat didn't hold the title for very long β a little over two months later, the Marshall Mars broke the passenger load record by transporting 301 people from Alameda to San Diego.
A versatile transport aircraft
Plumes of smoke erupt behind the Philippine Mars during a rocket-assisted take-off.
US Navy
Though produced at the latter end of WWII, the Mars fleet supported US Navy operations by flying cargo between Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. The flying boats were later deployed as medical air transport lifts between Hawaii and California during the Korean War.
After the Marshall Mars was damaged by an engine fire near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the remaining four aircraft continued to transport cargo from San Francisco to Honolulu until 1956, when they were decommissioned and beached at the Naval Air Station Alameda.
Aerial firefighter
The Martin Mars aircraft was developed to transport cargo during World War II, later supporting medical air transport lifts during the Korean War.
Coulson Aviation
After retiring from military service, the remaining Mars fleet, which became known as "the Big Four," was sold to timber companies in British Columbia in the late 1950s, finding a new purpose as the world's largest water bombers to combat forest fires.
The four flying boats were modified with large tanks that could carry more than 7,000 gallons of water and up to 600 gallons of foam concentrate, which was used to create a fire retardant to smother the flames. The Mars tankers could make a drop every 15 minutes, loaded with enough water or foam to douse an area of up to 4 acres at a time.
Finding a final resting place
The Philippine Mars' engineering station features panels of controls and gauges to monitor the aircraft's engine and fuel.
Coulson Aviation
The Marianas Mars crashed in 1961 during firefighting operations in Vancouver Island, and the Caroline Mars was damaged beyond repair by a typhoon the following year.
The last surviving Mars flying boats β the Philippine Mars and the Hawaii Mars β were later acquired by Coulson Aviation in 2007 to "expand its firefighting capabilities," according to the company.
The Coulson Group said the aircraft underwent several upgrades and renovations to make it a safer and more reliable aerial firefighter, but officials inBritish Columbia replaced it with newer aircraft, like the firefighting variants of the Lockheed C-130.
But after sitting in storage for half a decade, the Coulson Group decided to retire the Philippine Mars in 2012, donating it to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Florida as a permanent exhibit. Its red-and-white paint scheme from its time as a water bomber was replaced with its original dark blue Navy colors, but the trade deal with the Navy was put on indefinite hold amid the 2016 presidential election.
Last April, Coulson Aviation announced that the Philippine Mars would instead find its final landing at the Pima Air and Space Museum.
The Philippine Mars has arrived in Arizona! βοΈ After an incredible journey from Sproat Lake, sheβs now en route to her forever home at the Pima Air & Space Museum. A historic chapter closes, but her legacy lives on. #philippinemars#aviationhistory#coulsonaviationpic.twitter.com/oVJs1iQ2Xn
As the aircraft's retirement approached, the Coulson Group offered experiences for aviation enthusiasts to get "up close and personal with their Martin Mars water bombers."
The program, which had packages ranging from $1,000 to $15,000, featured tours of the planes and the opportunity to observe maintainers working on them. The top-tier experience, which included an opportunity to taxi the plane on the water, sold out in three days.
End of an aviation era
The Philippine Mars was painted a bold red and white when it operated as an air tanker, but its final paint job is navy blue in commemoration of its naval service.
Coulson Aviation
Over the last few months, multiple attempts have been made to get the Philippine Mars airborne to make the 800-mile flight from Vancouver Island to San Francisco to commemorate its service with the US Navy.
After four engine and propeller changes with parts taken from the Hawaii Mars, the Philippine Mars successfully took off from Sproat Lake, making its final flight to San Francisco Bay on Sunday.
The Philippine Mars is on the move! After departing Sproat Lake yesterday, the aircraft is set to leave San Francisco today between 11β12 PT, continuing its journey to Arizona. Stay tuned for updates as it makes its way to its final home! π΅βοΈ#philippinemars#coulsonaviationpic.twitter.com/EkgMCtIj7Y
The next day, it departed the Alameda Seaplane Base and flew to Lake Pleasant, Arizona, where the plane is expected to be de-watered, dismantled, and towed to the museum.
"Against all odds, the team behind her has worked tirelessly to prepare her for this final journey to Arizona," Coulson wrote on social media. "She may be leaving the water, but her legacy will always ripple through history."
Japan has taken steps in recent decades to make its homes and buildings more resilient to disasters.
KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images
Japan has taken steps to make its buildings more resilient to seismic activity.
Strategic planning, updating building codes, and a culture of preparedness have driven progress.
Japan's approach could offer lessons for the US, where many communities are vulnerable to disasters.
Prone to major earthquakes that trigger fires and tsunamis, Japan has become a world leader in building disaster-resilient communities.
Three experts in public policy and urban development told Business Insider that, over many decades, strategic planning, a culture of disaster preparedness, and regularly updated building codes have helped Japan produce neighborhoods and cities that can better withstand seismic shocks and other disasters.
While Japan experiences more regular and severe seismic activity than most of the US, the country's approach to disaster resilience could offer a model for American communities prone to major fires, floods, earthquakes, and other destructive events, especially asthey increase in frequency.
"Each disaster has served as a catalyst for deeper reflection and adaptation, and this continuous cycle of learning and adjusting is one key reason why Japan has been so proactive in addressing disaster risk," Christian Dimmer, an associate professor of urban studies at Waseda University in Tokyo, told Business Insider.
After major seismic events, Japan updates its national building codes based on what it learned from the earthquakes. Older buildings quickly become non-compliant and less attractive to renters and buyers, so they're often torn down and replaced with safer modern buildings. In America, the average age of a demolished building is 67 years, while in Japan, it's 32, per Jiro Yoshida, a business professor at Pennsylvania State University. This isn't just a result of building code reform: Japan lost a significant portion of its homes during World War II, and those that were rapidly built to replace them were often poor quality.
"Japan has gradually cranked up the expectations on housing," Daniel Aldrich, professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University, told BI. "So a house built in the 2020s is much safer than one built in the early 1990s, than one built in the '70s, than one built in the '50s."
Strategic land-use planning can reduce deaths and destruction
New construction is both built to be more disaster-resistant and sometimes used to protect older, more vulnerable buildings. In one such case, a 15-building concrete Tokyo apartment complex, complete with steel shutters and a sprinkler system, was erected in a way that strategically protected a neighborhood of mostly wooden homes, creating a 1.2-kilometer-long firewall.
Additionally, Japan has developed various land-use strategies to reduce casualties and damage from earthquakes, fires, and other disasters. Officials identify neighborhoods and regions that are particularly vulnerable and create firebreaks around rivers, railroads, and roadways to prevent fires from jumping from one area to another, Dimmer said. Cities have created new greenspaces, including pocket parks featuring emergency water stores and rations, widened some of their extremely narrow streets, and phased out dead-end streets.
"What stands out in Japan's approach is the institutionalized mechanism of learning from disasters and translating those lessons into concrete, actionable policies," Dimmer said.
After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, which also triggered massive fires and a major tsunami that devastated Tokyo and Yokohama, the country learned that green spaces are critical fire breaks and to act as evacuation zones, Dimmer said.
In the wake of Japan's 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident, the country invested in coastal infrastructure, including massive seawalls, and relocated residents out of particularly vulnerable areas.
"There are efforts to bring people closer to the city centers, reduce sprawl, and then also if you have built in a place that you shouldn't have built or is deemed unsafe, then there are subsidies to help you move," said Miho Mazereeuw, an associate professor of architecture and director of the Urban Risk Lab at MIT who's writing a book entitled "Design Before Disaster: Japan's Culture of Preparedness."
A 'culture of preparedness' braces residents
In Japan, schoolchildren are required toparticipate in regular earthquake, fire, typhoon, and other disaster preparedness drills. They study evacuation routes and learn how to take cover depending on the emergency. They also memorize a famous phrase: "Don't push, don't run, don't speak, and don't go back." But it's not just kids who are trained β residents of all ages are educated in disaster response. And, in 2015, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government produced a post-disaster survival manual, the Bosai book.
"There is this culture of preparedness that's been ingrained in every level of society, from what children are taught in schools, to organizations that are community-level," said Mazereeuw. Communities are asked "to really think through both the city design and then also how the community members interact with each other, support each other through these kinds of events."
Dimmer said this culture is based on the understanding that building a more disaster-resilient society requires collective action and major investments.
"Adequate financial resources, building civic structures, and empowering individuals to exercise foresight are crucial," Dimmer added. "Equally important, however, is addressing the underlying cultural mindset that views these efforts as essential for the greater good, rather than seeing them as burdensome or unnecessary."
Building more resilient structures can keep people safe
Government officials in Japan have worked to keep people safe from disasters like tsunamis and volcanoes by consistently pushing construction firms to improve resiliency. And so far, it's been working.
When a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in the central prefecture of Ishikawa, Japan, in January 2024, at least 57 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed. Robert Geller, professor emeritus of seismology at the University of Tokyo, told CNN that modern buildings fared better than older houses.
When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Kahramanmaras, Turkey in February 2023, at least 230,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and more than 4,800 people died. Damage from earthquakes can vary significantly depending on where they occur, which makes it difficult to compare two events. However, experts told BI that Japan's resiliency measures have helped the country reduce building damage and save lives.
To be sure, Japan's approach to disasters isn't foolproof. Big earthquakes in recent decades have damaged or destroyed many buildings and had high death tolls. There are also high environmental costs of tearing down older structures and rebuilding as much as Japan does, such as creating significant carbon emissions and waste that can be detrimental to the environment. There are also cultural costs. Many older, often wooden buildings in Japan have been demolished in order to rebuild more disaster-resilient structures.
"Of course, I believe in human safety being the most important thing, but I lament a bit the loss of many more traditional homes," Mazereeuw said,adding that she hopes buildings can begin to be retrofitted more frequently rather than torn down.
Aldrich said the US may struggle with this strategy without first reforming its "patchwork" building codes that are different across cities and states. In comparison, he said Japan's national government has made changes to building codes that apply to the entire country, a model that he said the US should take some lessons from.
"The US should work to create updated federal standards for designing built structures β both residential and commercial β that can withstand floods and fires," he said.
Los Angeles' Democratic Mayor Karen Bass Thursday conceded her Africa trip was "absolutely" a mistake and that she was working to regain the publicβs trust after facing backlash for her botched response to the raging fires in her city last month.
"Absolutely it is, and I think that I have to demonstrate that every day by showing what we're doing, what is working, what are the challenges," Bass told NBC Los Angeles when asked if sheβs trying to "regain confidence."
The remarks come as Los Angeles faces rainstorms this week, which could create "debris flows" in areas where the fires burned, a landslide risk for whatβs left of the disaster that tore through in separate fires in the region. There have already been mudslides in some scarred areas, according to Fox Weather.
Bass was in Ghana for the swearing-in of its president when the fires began, even though there was a high fire risk known at the time. The Palisades Fire started Jan. 7 and escalated through the night, but the mayor did not get back into the city until Jan. 8, and she did not answer repeated questions from a Sky News reporter upon her arrival in the United States.
Bass' silence went viral and led to backlash from residents and social media.
Over 170,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for her to step down as mayor. The situation also resulted in public criticism of the mayor, ranging from former Democratic mayoral opponent Rick Caruso to liberal talk show host Bill Maher.
"LA's mayor, Karen Bass, the Nero of American politics, was fiddling in Ghana while the city burned," Maher said last month.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., suggested that Disney CEO Bob Iger run for mayor in 2026. When pressed on whether she took Khanna's comments personally, Bass shrugged it off.
"I am focused on one thing and one thing only, and that is to make sure that our city is able to recover and rebuild, and that all of those individuals that lived in the Palisades can go home," Bass told NBC Los Angeles.
The nearly 24,000-acre Palisades Fire destroyed over 6,800 buildings, damaged 973 buildings and resulted in 12 deaths, according to state government data.
Political fallout from the fire continues as Steve Soboroff, who's tasked with recovery efforts, was slated to receive a $500,000 payday for the next three months from different charities. However, he will now be doing the job without pay after the amount raised eyebrows as some Californians build back from nothing.
Participation in California's insurer of last resort more than doubled between 2020 and 2024.
Frederic J. Brown/Getty Images
California's insurer of last resort will get a $1 billion bailout to cover LA wildfire damages.
The bailout will likely lead to higher insurance premiums for California homeowners.
This situation could escalate the state's insurance crisis and convince more insurers to leave.
Property owners across California will likely pay higher insurance premiums to help cover the damages of the Los Angeles wildfires after the state's insurance plan of last resort said it doesn't have enough funds to pay out its claims.
State regulators on Tuesday approved a $1 billion bailout of California's insurer of last resort, the FAIR Plan, which covers those who can't find insurance on the private market. The bailout will be funded by private insurers licensed to operate in the state β and under a new rule enacted last year, they can pass up to half of the cost on to their customers.
The FAIR Plan said it was set to run out of money by the end of March as losses piled up from the Palisades and Eaton fires. It would be the first time in 30 years that it had been unable to pay its claims.
The bailout comes after California's largest home insurer, State Farm, this month asked state regulators for emergency permission to raise homeowners' rates by an average of 22%, starting May 1, to avert a "dire situation" for the company's finances. As of February 3, State Farm had paid out $1 billion and said it expected to spend far more.
It's all part of a worsening home insurance crisis in California that was already underway before the LA blazes destroyed more than 12,000 buildings. Back-to-back fires in 2017 and 2018 decimated insurers' profits, prompting companies including State Farm, Allstate, and Farmers Insurance to either stop writing new policies, pull back coverage, or, in some cases, drop tens of thousands of property owners in the state. Insurers cited growing losses from wildfires and other disasters coupled with inflation and more expensive home repairs.
Most recently, beginning in July, State Farm dropped nearly 70% of its policyholders in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood.
All of this has forced hundreds of thousands of homeowners into the FAIR plan, designed to be a backstop for those who can't find insurance on the traditional market. Participation more than doubled between 2020 and 2024 to nearly half a million homes β many of which were in areas devastated by the Palisades and Eaton fires.
Measures to keep home insurers from fleeing California
The bill for the bailout will be divided among private insurers based on their market share in the state. As of 2023, State Farm, Farmers Insurance, and CSAA Insurance held the largest percentage of policies in California, according to S&P Global data. They have 30 days to pay the FAIR plan and β under a rule change made by California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last year β insurers can request approval to pass up to half those costs onto residential and commercial policyholders.
The change was part of Lara's broader strategy to lure private insurers back to California to help stabilize the market. The rules also should make it easier for companies to raise premiums and factor in the costs of reinsurance and risks of future disasters. In exchange, insurers will have to expand coverage in communities most at risk of wildfires.
Lara said he approved the FAIR Plan bailout to protect consumers and blamed 30 years of stagnant regulations for putting more people at risk.
"The FAIR Plan must pay claims just like any other insurance company," he said in a statement. "I reject those who are hoping for the failure of our insurance market by spreading fear and doubt. Wildfire survivors can't cash 'what ifs' to pay for food and rent, but they can cash FAIR Plan checks."
Some consumer advocates on Tuesday threatened legal action to stop private insurers from surcharging customers.
"This gift to insurance companies rewards bad behavior and will only incentivize insurers to drop even more homeowners and force them onto the FAIR Plan in the future because there's no consequence for abandoning these families," said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog in Los Angeles.
