Wildfires in Los Angeles: From Slow Violence to Fast Destruction and the Path Forward
By Steve Lemeshko
Palisades fire in the City of Los Angeles. Credit: CAL FIRE_Official, CC BY-NC 2.0.
The wildfires raging in Los Angeles are a tragedy that rivals the devastation of Paradise, CA, in 2018. Entire neighborhoods have been burned to the ground, the human toll continues to rise, and the unprecedented scale of destruction is overwhelming. Amid such tragedies, it is all too easy to lose hope, to feel numb to the magnitude of the issue. Yet, this sense of helplessness obscures an important truth: even small contributions matter, and collective action can mitigate even the most daunting challenges. Please read the following article to learn more about individual and collective efficacy.
This article, however, will focus on the big-picture ideas shaping our understanding of wildfire dynamics and where they might lead us. To begin, let’s discuss the three fundamental requirements of fire: fuel, oxygen, and heat. Of these components, fuel is the one humans can manage to some extent. We cannot control oxygen (manifested as wind, for instance), and our ability to directly influence heat—a driver of wildfire intensity exacerbated by climate change—is limited and indirect. However, we have significant agency over fuel sources: the twigs, leaves, trees, and other materials that fires consume.
Historically, low- to medium-intensity fires were a natural and necessary part of the Western U.S., clearing underbrush and regenerating forests (for example, some pine cones need to be exposed to fire to open up). Indigenous peoples in California and across the West practiced controlled burns for centuries, making forests healthy and reducing the risk of catastrophic fires. Colonial settlers, however, brought with them a different view—one where fire is understood only as a destructive force to be suppressed at all costs—and stripped away Indigenous land management practices in the form of slow colonial-settler ecological violence. Government fire suppression policies led to the once resilient system of forest patchwork becoming overgrown with fuel. The photos below compare the same location before (left) and after (right) fire suppression policies were implemented in the West. This shift in land management policies disrupted natural fire cycles and allowed fuel to accumulate unchecked, creating the perfect conditions for the high-intensity infernos we now face.
Photo of a hillside northeast of Phillipsburg, Montana. The left photo was taken in 1906-8, and the right one in 1981. Credit: Frank C. Calkins (USGS), George Gruell (USFS), TreeSource.
Columbia Mountain and Teakettle Mountain in the Flathead National Forest, Montana. The left photo was taken in 1935, and the right one in 1981. Credit: E. Bloom (USDI), George Gruell (USFS), TreeSource.
Rob Nixon’s concept of slow violence—gradual, often invisible harm—can be used as a lens to understand the wildfire crisis. The impacts of slow violence unfold over years or decades, making them harder to perceive and respond to. In the case of wildfires, this slow violence is evident in the “imbalance between wildland fire suppression and fuel reduction,” as well as the dryer and hotter conditions of climate change. To this day, we have to bear the legacy of the colonial fire suppression policies enacted more than a century ago because the issue has never been truly addressed. The slow violence of fire suppression has now resulted in fast and destructive wildfire events, such as the one in Los Angeles. The devastation wrought by wildfires is not merely a natural disaster; it is a human-made crisis decades in the making.
So what will the future entail? Right now, we have a reactive, failure-prone approach. Our forests are overgrown, and they will burn. The question is no longer whether we can avoid fire, but how we can learn to coexist with it. Do we want manageable, low- to medium-intensity fires, or apocalyptic megafires that devastate entire communities?
In the highly polarized American political system, meaningful action often occurs after a major disaster, resulting in short-term, piecemeal solutions and less-than-perfect outcomes. In the coming weeks and months, we may see the neatly packaged “solutions” that will most likely address the symptoms rather than the root causes. For example, resources might be directed toward extinguishing fires near properties, building fire-resistant communities, and supporting post-fire recovery. While all these actions are important, they must be balanced with addressing underlying issues such as fuel reduction through selective harvesting and controlled burns, climate change mitigation, and limiting development in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The WUI, where human development meets natural landscapes, is inherently a fire-prone area by definition, as it directly borders forests, grasslands, and other combustible ecosystems. It is the area where the fire first met Los Angeles before invading the city. However, across the U.S., WUI is the fastest-growing land use type, and its expansion increases the vulnerability of human communities to fire.
One of the biggest obstacles to meaningful change is the gap between scientific knowledge and what is “politically possible.” Addressing the effects of wildfires is often cheaper and less controversial than tackling root causes. However, we can no longer just throw money at the problem and try to technofix it. Relying on short-term fixes and technological solutions has brought us here in the first place. Real progress requires acknowledging and addressing this gap while critically evaluating proposed solutions to ensure they are effective, empathetic, and equitable.
In conclusion, we are at a crossroads. The decisions we make now will determine whether we continue down a path of destruction or move toward coexistence with fire. To act quickly and wisely, we must carefully balance short-term needs with long-term solutions while considering the impacts on vulnerable communities. The time to act is now.
How you can contribute:
For further reading, see the following articles:
How You Can Help Address the Wildfire Crisis / January 15, 2025
Northern Spotted Owl vs. Barred Owl: The Ethical Conundrum of Compassionate Conservation / November 7, 2024
Indigenous Knowledge and Colonial Violence in Kaipara Moana, New Zealand / September 19, 2024