Latest News

Los Angeles wildfires in January caused 440 "excess deaths" according to a study

According to a new study, wildfires in Los Angeles that ravaged parts of the area in January led to hundreds more deaths than the official 31.

According to the research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 440 "excess" deaths were caused by the fires between January 5 and February 1. The models used to compare predicted mortality under normal conditions to the actual numbers recorded during that time period.

The study found that the additional deaths are likely due to a combination of factors. These include increased exposure for people with heart or lung diseases to smoke and toxic substances released by fires as well as delays in healthcare.

Researchers wrote that the findings "underscore a need to supplement direct mortality estimates with alternative methods in order to quantify the additional death burden of wildfires as well as climate-related emergency situations more generally."

The two wind-driven fires that broke out on opposite sides Los Angeles during the first weeks of January damaged or destroyed over 16,000 structures. They ravaged the Pacific Palisades seaside district and the Altadena foothill community.

The fires combined scorched an area greater than Paris, 59 square miles 152 square km.

After the latest set of human remains was unearthed at Altadena, six months following the fires, the official count of those who died as a result of the fires is 31.

In February, Governor Gavin Newsom requested that Congress provide nearly $40 billion to help fight wildfires. According to some estimates, the economic loss from the fires is more than $250 billion. This makes the conflagration the costliest natural disaster in U.S. History.

The JAMA study admitted some limitations. It said that the data could be revised upwards in the future, and that the research did reflect any deaths attributable to fires beyond February 1. Reporting by Steve Gorman, Editing by Raju Gopikrishnan

(source: Reuters)