What caused the fires in California 2025? Factors behind extreme wildfires as five people killed with over 150,000 evacuated

The Palisades Fire is now the most destructive in Los Angeles history. A new, sixth, blaze erupted in Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night (8 January), prompting even more evacuation orders in the area.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley announced the new blaze during a Wednesday evening news conference. Crowley said: “I don’t have a lot of information. I can tell you we’re throwing all of our available resources at it as we speak”,

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called on residents to “conserve water to the extent that you can” as firefighters battle the historic blaze. She added: “But make no mistake, Los Angeles will rebuild stronger than ever”.

The Palisades Fire is now more than 15,000 acres, while the Eaton Fire has scorched some 10,600 acres. The fires have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents, including more than 60,000 in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood. More than 450,000 people are without power throughout the region, according to PowerOutage.us.

Homes have been destroyed across the LA area, including those owned by several celebrities. Diane Warren, Anna Faris, and Adam Brody and his wife Leighton Meester are among the many celebrities to have reportedly lost their homes in the wildfires still burning across Los Angeles.

Paris Hilton’s Malibu, California home burned down amid the devastating wildfires on Wednesday. She wrote on X: “Heartbroken beyond words. Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience.”

Brian Rice, president of the statewide California Professional Firefighters union, encouraged tourists to stay out of the vicinity. He said on Wednesday: “The smoke is a toxic soup.

“It’s not just the brush that’s burning, but homes are burning. Homes contain plastics that are built from petrochemical compounds. If you do not have to be in that area and breathe that environment in, don’t. It’s dangerous.”

What caused the Los Angeles fires?

The fires have been spread at an express pace by fierce winds that have hit 80mph (129 km/h), even getting to 100mph (161 km/h) in some mountainous areas. California’s cooler months often bring what are known as Santa Ana winds, which are the strong, dry gusts that blow in from the US’s vast western desert interior to southern California.

These winds provide dry, warm air that pushes towards the coast, the opposite of the usual moist air blowing in from the Pacific Ocean to the region. This causes humidity to drop, helping dry out fire-prone vegetation and spurring flames. The Santa Ana winds have in the past contributed to some of California’s worst fires.

Along with the strong winds, recent conditions in southern California have added literal fuel to the fire. Two winters of heavy rainfall, particularly in 2022 and 2023, caused vegetation to sprout across the Los Angeles region, but this winter has been exceptionally dry, with much of southern California locked in drought.

This means that there are plenty of trees, grasses and shrubs to catch fire and most of them are parched of water, meaning they combust more readily. The influence of the climate crisis is also making such blazes more common and devastating.

Fires in the US west are becoming more frequent and larger, scientists have found, with climate change raising the risk of fast-moving fires by around 25% in California. Ten of the largest California wildfires have occurred in the last two decades, with five of these fires occurring in 2020 alone.