Nov. 27, 2025 6 AM PT
To the editor: In the case of constructing in wildfire zones, California appears content material with the established order. County and metropolis governments are signing off on new houses in hearth hazard zones at a dizzying tempo, with out correct evacuation planning or home-hardening sources.
An evaluation by the Heart for Organic Range, the place I work, discovered that, since 2021, native officers have permitted at the least 61,000 houses in areas designated by the state as “very excessive hearth hazard severity zones.” This “construct now, cope with it later” method isn’t any approach to home Californians, particularly with the warnings from Topanga.
Residents there have been informed that when one other wildfire comes barreling via, they might be informed to shelter in place (“Can you survive a wildfire sheltering at home? For one community, L.A. County Fire says it may be the only option,” Nov. 24). What a horrifying prospect.
As Los Angeles prepares to mark one yr because the Palisades and Eaton fires, I sincerely hope cities and counties prioritize hardening current houses and steer new improvement to safer areas near jobs and transportation facilities. The established order is unsustainable and lethal.
Tiffany Yap, Oakland
This writer is a senior scientist on the Heart for Organic Range.
