LA Real Estate Lobbied to Develop in High-Risk Fire Areas
In California, policymakers have long warned that continued development in high-risk wildfire zones was magnifying fires. But real estate interests have lobbied hard against any development restrictions, helping exacerbate the fires raging in Los Angeles now.
A view of flames on a mountain as seen from Topanga Canyon near Pacific Palisades in Topanga, Los Angeles, on January 9, 2025. (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Back in 2019, a California state climate task force issued a stark warning: endless development in the state’s high-risk wildfire zones was magnifying wildfires and putting more people in their path.
It was a call that has echoed in the state for decades from environmentalists, urban planners, and policymakers, even as developers pushed to build ever more homes in zones designated as “very high risk” for wildfires.
Now many of those homes have burned to the ground.
Sorry, but this article is available to active subscribers only. Please log in or become a subscriber.