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Rethinking the approach to fighting wildfires

Photos and videos from the Palisades Fire that started in the City of Los Angelas, January 2025.
Photos and videos from the Palisades Fire that started in the City of Los Angelas, January 2025.

On this edition of Your Call’s One Planet Series, we have a conversation about why we should change our approach to fighting wildfires.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), the Los Angeles fires that started on Jan. 7 have burned over 40,000 acres. Of these fires, the Palisades fire and the nearly contained Eaton fire reached record levels of destruction, with more than 15,000 structures destroyed and thousands of people displaced from their homes.

In 2024, the Forest Service and Department of the Interior combined spent more than $4 billion on wildfire suppression, and a little more than $700 million on preparedness. We also talk about the health effects of fire smoke on firefighters.

Guests:

Lazo Gitchos, wildland firefighter writer, and researcher

Lisa Patel, executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine, and a member of Science Moms

Resources:

The Nation: It’s Time to Rethink Everything About How We Fight Fires

Stanford Report: What we know about the health effects of wildfire

UCLA: Chemicals produced by fires show potential to raise cancer risk

Malihe Razazan is the senior producer of KALW's daily call-in program, Your Call.