UC Merced Magazine | Volume XIX, Issue VII

COVER STORY

The Science of Fire

Los Angeles Wildfires Highlight Importance of UC Merced Research

By Patty Guerra UC Merced professors at the forefront of climate and fire research say the dry, windy conditions that fueled the catastrophic Southern California wildfires will become more common, but there are ways to fight back. e Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County destroyed more than 12,000 homes and dozens of schools, churches, businesses and other community resources, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. At least 29 people died in the fires that required

nearly 200,000 people to evacuate and inundated millions with toxic smoke. It was one of the worst disasters in the Los Angeles region’s history, and media from across the country turned to faculty at UC Merced to help explain what caused the fires and how they might be prevented. University researchers working across numerous disciplines have been leading e orts to measure the impacts of wildfires on air, how communities rebuild and recover from wildfires and what can be done to reduce future fire danger.

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