How will calamity change Los Angeles?
Short-sighted policies amplified the destruction. Will LA–and California–learn from their mistakes?
“MY HUSBAND saw a glow on the hill,” explains Laurie Bilotta. She is standing in her backyard in Pasadena pointing at Eaton Canyon, where the Eaton Fire broke out on January 7th. In the few seconds it took for Bob, her husband, to yell “Fire!”, the flames were as tall as she was. Then “the whole mountain just exploded. There were just flames everywhere.” The couple grabbed their two Siamese cats and drove south towards safety. By a miracle their house survived.
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This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “The fires—and next time”
United States
January 18th 2025
From the January 18th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDonald Trump’s Washington reaches a new partisan peak
His address to Congress showed that Republicans will follow their leader anywhere, and that Democrats don’t have one
Andrew Cuomo plots a comeback in New York City
The disgraced former governor announces a run for mayor of the Big Apple
Trump’s armed forces won’t look like Biden’s
America is set to spend more—and differently
Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s savvy dealmaker
The novice diplomat embodies the president’s transactional worldview
America has never had state media like it does today
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are revolutionising presidential communication
America’s Gen Z has got religion
Because of them, a long decline in the number of Christians has levelled off