January 13, 2025

By Matt Stieb

Photo: David Butow/Redux

The Los Angeles wildfires are still far from completely contained. But even as swaths of the city remain under threat for at least a few more days, it’s hard not to wonder what comes next. How will insurance companies, already hesitant to provide coverage in fire-prone neighborhoods, respond to the multibillion-dollar disaster? Is it even possible to lessen the inherent risk of building in the hills surrounding Los Angeles? What can L.A.’s (and the rest of California’s) politicians do as they prepare to deal with a hostile incoming presidential administration? To help understand how the city got here and where it might be going, I spoke with Char Miller, a professor of environmental history at Pomona College. Miller is the author of Burn Scars, a history of wildfire suppression in the United States.

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