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LA fires damage power, sewer and water infrastructureLA fires damage power, sewer and water infrastructure
AccuWeather says economic loss and rebuilding could cost between $250 billion and $275 billion, making these the most expensive fires in U.S. history.
Julie Strupp / Smart Cities Dive
January 21, 2025
2 Min Read
The Palisades Fire burns during a powerful windstorm on Jan. 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.Apu Gomes via Getty Images
Wildfires have mangled Los Angeles’ infrastructure as they continue to rage in parts of the area, spurred by high winds and supercharged by climate change. Though it’s still too early to take full stock of the impact, the fires have killed at least 24 people, displaced over 100,000 residents and destroyed at least 12,000 structures, according to The Guardian.
Those numbers are likely to grow: The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, which could set back progress.
The conflagrations have thus far consumed more than 62 square miles — an area larger than San Francisco — as firefighters continue to battle for control of the two biggest fires, the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, according to AP News. No government agencies have yet provided a cost estimate of the damage, but AccuWeather puts that number, including economic loss, between $250 billion and $275 billion — making them the costliest fires in U.S. history.
The area’s sewer, water and power infrastructure has been significantly damaged, LA County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said at a Jan. 9 briefing, as crews worked to restore utilities. Massive amounts of debris, including thousands of fallen trees and materials from burned structures, must be removed before repairs can begin, Pestrella said.
Public Works is leading the debris removal effort, and the agency plans to conduct a health review of every property affected by the fire, Pestrella said.
The fires have heavily impacted roads, damaging traffic signals and downing wires, Janisse Quiñones, CEO and chief engineer of the LA Department of Water and Power, said Jan. 9. A slew of roads across the LA area are closed due to the blazes, per the LA DPW’s website.
The fires also knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of people, and while crews have restored access for many as of Tuesday, there are still nearly 20,000 LA DPW customers without power as of Tuesday, PowerOutage.us shows.
Most of those outages are in the Pacific Palisades and Brentwood neighborhoods, per the LA Department of Water & Power tracker. Additionally, some electrical transmission and distribution equipment has been shut down for the safety of firefighters.
To read the complete article, visit Smart Cities Dive.
