Los Angeles is the city of glamor and movie magic, a place where dreams blossom like the onset of spring. It is also home to over 3.8 million people living regular lives—parents trying to make ends meet, college students slogging through traffic on the 101, office workers jostling around on the 16-bus into downtown.

This diverse, bustling hub is now the epicenter of the ongoing climate change debate and America’s failure to prepare for the growing impacts. 

Climate change

THE 2025 LA WILDFIRES

The LA wildfires took twenty-nine lives. In the course of nearly four weeks, 16,000 homes and structures were damaged or destroyed, 14,200 of which occurred in the Palisades and Eaton fires. 

According to the UCLA Climate Attribution Study, the wildfires would likely have happened regardless of climate change, but not with the same intensity or devastation. Likewise, World Weather Attribution, a science-backed organization that works to model the odds and severity of extreme weather events, determined that climate change increased the risk of wildfire disasters in LA. Unfortunately, this flaming knife-edge we walk will only get thinner. Without drastic measures, by the year 2100, the average area burned in California will increase by 77%. 

Statistics, while essential to understanding our situation, can only take us so far. Our community doesn’t feel data. Numbers cannot express the true depth of LA’s destruction. There is a personal touch to this loss more intimate than greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere or climate change’s impact on ice caps and polar bears.

 “Losing my home in the Palisades Fire was a profound devastation, but it ignited a deeper purpose that extends beyond personal recovery to rebuilding a stronger, more resilient community,” Chinmaya Misra, founder of CHINCHIN Design and trained interior and architectural designer, told me. “Catastrophic events like these lay bare the fragility of life, teaching us that life and loss go hand in hand. While grief is inevitable, so too is the responsibility to learn from the past and shape a wiser future.”

To take a page from Misra’s book, we must learn before we can make change. 

POLICY

In his first term, President Trump repealed over 100 environmental regulations. Since his second inauguration, he appointed chemical and oil industry associates to the EPA while firing scientists from two of the agency’s top science advisory panels. He pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement (for a second time) and indicated his intention to attack the California waiver meant to establish more stringent air pollution standards.

Our climate is like a spinning coin, progressively slowing to a tenuous wobble. The UN predicts that this coin will fall within the next 10 years, leaving our world irreversibly damaged. We can protest, vote with our dollars, and write letters to Congress, but there has to be more localized, direct means of action. 

LA CLIMATE EFFORTS

Climate Resolve has been LA’s climate resilience organization since 2009. To put it in founder Jonathan Parfrey’s own words, they are “… the silent hand behind a lot of the actions on extreme heat in the state of California.” 

In the last decade, they have passed statewide legislation that has become the foundation of climate work in California. Climate Resolve is also the organization behind cool roofs—roofs which use a reflective material that lower a building’s temperature—in LA County and are experimenting with cool walls and pavements. 

Cool materials have proven results in urban areas for heat reduction and lowering emissions. According to Parfrey, “There’s really no giant cost increment. It’s just doing something smart, then we’ll save money on people’s utility bills.” He continued, “When it comes to climate change’s impact on nature, the science is in and it’s very clear that there is a fingerprint. It’s not some abstract thing, but it is something that is here now.”

Architecture & interior design

EXPECTED CHANGES 

Jonathan Wurster is the third-generation owner-operator of the Los Angeles-based T.R. Wurster Construction. The company has deep roots in the county and has worked on numerous influential projects like Nobu Ryokan Malibu and the revitalized Spelling Manor.

Like many professionals in the architecture and design industry, the fires impacted T.R. Wurster’s business. Two active projects were lost and three others are temporarily inaccessible. Wurster predicts that, when the rebuild ramps up in earnest, LA will undergo a regional construction boom and modernized neighborhoods. 

“Sadly,” Wurster said, “many of the original residents will be unable to afford to navigate the red tape and modern building codes that drive construction costs to a high threshold for those without the means to conform with all of the modern building requirements.” According to Builder Magazine, California’s fire codes are some of the strictest in the nation. Still, natural disasters and their impacts are less predictable than ever as a direct impact of climate change.

Chinmaya Misra guided me through a few examples of LA’s fire-safe requirements:

• Wood-shingled roofs are strictly prohibited.
• Air vents—susceptible to drawing in airborne embers—must be tightly screened.
• Firebreaks between structures and surrounding vegetation are required as well as the integration of accessible irrigation sources. 

Our efforts to change and improve infrastructure will be shaped by these codes which may mean extensive rebuilding timelines and added costs.

STILL STANDING

Before we look at methods for further improvement we must evaluate what worked. While the devastation is undeniable, many Angelenos are left with battling feelings of gratitude and guilt as they stare at their still-standing homes among the wreckage. 

In some cases, luck was truly on the whim of the wind. More often, though, those building codes and safeguards are the reasons families still have homes to which they can return.

Overlooking the fire-ravaged Malibu, Pepperdine University was built with fire prevention in mind. Natural fire breaks, fire-resistant landscaping, and cleared and maintained brush are just a part of it. The university also uses stucco walls, tile roofs, and other fire-resistant materials to stay safe. 

The Getty Villa, another Malibu staple, was threatened early during the Palisades fire. To prevent damage to the interior, employees closed the valves that regulate the Villa’s HVAC system, turned off air conditioning, and sealed the doors. Like Pepperdine, the Getty Villa underwent brush clearing in 2024, pruning trees and removing shrubbery within 200-feet of the building per LA’s fire codes. Irrigation throughout the grounds also kept the surrounding area from becoming dry enough to catch fire. 

While most homeowners don’t have the resources to build like this, there are lessons we can take from the efforts of these surviving institutions. 

BUILDING BACK 

While her home was an unfortunate casualty, Misra’s expertise as a trained architect uniquely positions her during ongoing relief efforts. She explained, “The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) assesses fire hazards within State Responsibility Areas (SRA) using a range of factors, including fuel density, terrain, fire weather patterns, and high-wind areas known to accelerate wildfire spread. These assessments define Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ), classifying regions as Moderate, High, or Very High risk based on the average hazard level across each zone.”

Misra continued, “In light of increasingly extreme wildfires, it may be time to reevaluate these zoning maps and expand the designated fire-prone areas. A broader classification could better equip homeowners with the knowledge and resources to implement fire-resistant building materials and responsible design strategies, ultimately enhancing community resilience in the face of a changing climate.”

As the one responsible for building new structures, Wurster has similar expertise. “It has long been a requirement to build according to varying fire hazard zone requirements according to the designated severity zone of the site,” he said. “These best practices will protect many structures from most fires, and now that we are acutely aware of the danger associated with fires, we expect that more people will be open to using more fire-resistant construction methods.”

METHODS & MATERIALS

As the city rebuilds, it is imperative to use products that will best serve the daunting future ahead. Wurster, who has spent years working with different building materials, spoke on the thousands of products that can alleviate fire damage. “Any product with a Class A Fire Rating designation meets the most stringent fire performance requirements. Materials having this classification can apply to the exterior building envelope, and in some cases it can be applied to interior assemblies as well.” The more ardent concern, he explained, is the correct installation of these products to function properly. 

One recourse for fire resistance is insulated concrete wall panels. They look like regular walls, but they will not burn. Intumescent paints slow down the ignition of wood “… so if you have a nice wood porch rather than it becoming almost a catalyst or a fire that could consume your house, instead it won’t burn,” explained Parfrey.

He also emphasized the importance of proper ventilation since embers breaching a home’s interior are a catastrophic risk during wildfires. Vulcan vents filter out embers and close themselves if heated to prevent embers from reaching the inside, making them an ideal countermeasure.

Parfrey’s already worked out a method to get these vents into new builds. “What if all of these billionaires who are throwing around their money to help LA recover put in a huge bulk old order of vulcan vents so that the people rebuilding in Altadena can use those vents rather than the ones that would allow in embers and allow buildings to burn down. If you put in the bulk order now, it’ll be cheaper than the usual vents, and it’ll be available for builders to use right away. “

Misra’s got her own insights. “Increasingly, homeowners are turning to fire-resistant materials like metal roofing, steel framing, stucco exteriors, and biodegradable flame retardants, reinforcing a shift toward more resilient, adaptive construction in fire-prone regions.” Several of these measures may sound familiar as the ones taken by Pepperdine. These steps may not be as advanced as site-wide irrigation or sealable doors, but they are accessible options for the common homeowner.

Design-driven change

Tracy Metro is a staple in the LA interior design space. Between her time on the show House Doctor and her colorful, endlessly creative take on design, she’s a highly respected expert in the field. 

Metro released Stick It!, an interior design sticker book, in December 2024. Just a few weeks later, she was watching the Hollywood Hills burn. She stepped up, donating all profits of her January book sales to Tiltify’s LA Wildfire Relief LIVE. Metro is one of many design industry fellows taking initiative. Renowned designer Adam Hunter launched LA CAN DO, a donation and volunteer-based relief effort amplified by the West Hollywood Design District.

“People tend to be very gung-ho to help in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic event like these fires, but as time wears on and distance is created those unaffected go back to their normal lives,” Metro told me. “This unintentional ‘forgetfulness’ is something that we all need to work on as victims’ lives are still turned upside down and will be for another few years. Therefore, we must continue to pour our time and money into those that need help and one key way is to hire people who’ve lost everything!”

As Angelenos sort out the best way to move forward, organizations like Climate Resolve are taking active steps in pushing policy improvements. Parfrey is one of several experts tapped for the new LA County Blue Ribbon Commission on wildfires and plans to fight for change.

As Jonathan Wurster said, “there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.” Still, the design community must—and intends to—step up. Chinmaya Misra put it best. “This historic fire has given new meaning to the idea of a phoenix rising from the ashes. As designers and architects, we bear the duty of creating sustainable communities that work in harmony with the land rather than in defiance of it.” | Cover photo: Design by Chin Chin Design.