CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES

Los Angeles Needs to Fireproof Communities, Not Just Houses

CNN - A glimmer of hope: Firefighter Chien Yu lost his home, as well as the school his children attended, in the Los Angeles wildfires. When he returned to see the destruction, Yu found his wedding ring amid the rubble.

Salon -  A recent study in the journal JAMA Neurology has looked at the effects of wildfire smoke on  dementia. Previous research has established that tiny particles in the air (2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, known as PM2.5) are linked to dementia, but the researchers found that long-term exposure to wildfire smoke specifically “was associated with dementia diagnoses.” They added that as climate change worsens, “interventions focused on reducing wildfire PM2.5 exposure may reduce dementia diagnoses and related inequities.”

To conduct their research, the scientists looked at health data from more than 1.2 million people from between 2008 and 2019 among members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Within this cohort, they discovered “people with higher exposure to wildfire fine particulate matter (PM2.5) had elevated risk of developing dementia,” explained Dr. Joan Casey, the study’s corresponding author and a professor of public health at the University of Washington.

NPR -  Even though Los Angeles has some of the toughest wildfire policies in the U.S., the fires currently burning are leading many to ask how prepared the region is. The county has strict building codes and limits new development in risky areas. 

The building codes for fire-prone areas in California require the use of fire-resistant materials for things like roofs and siding, NPR’s Lauren Sommer says. But that’s only for houses built since 2008 and a majority of Los Angeles’ housing stock dates back to before then. There are also strict rules about vegetation around homes in risky areas. Starting next year, almost no vegetation will be allowed within five feet of a house. The new rule has received some pushback from homeowners who like greenery outside their property.