Twenty-nine people have died and thousands have been affected after wildfires erupted in the Los Angeles, California, area on January 7, 2025. First responders are actively fighting the flames, and authorities are investigating the causes of these California wildfires. These are the most devastating winter fires in the region in more than four decades.
California wildfires: Facts, FAQs, and how to help
- Fast facts: California wildfires
- What caused the fires in Los Angeles?
- What has been destroyed by the California fires?
- How is World Vision responding to the Los Angeles fires?
- How can I help children and families affected by the fires?
Fast facts: California wildfires
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All that’s left of one Pasadena woman’s home is its front facade. She had just paid her home off before the fire destroyed it. (© 2025 World Vision/photo by Kristy J. O’Hara-Glaspie) Seven California fires have ravaged Los Angeles. Much-needed rains moved into the area January 27, which greatly helped firefighters but also caused mudslides due to the lack of vegetation. Many evacuation orders are still in place. As of February 3, 2025, all the fires were fully contained.
- The Palisades fire broke out Tuesday, January 7, near Los Angeles. It burned more than 23,400 acres, including homes and businesses in Pacific Palisades and along the Pacific Coast Highway. It is now 100% contained.
- The Eaton fire also began January 7 and burned more than 14,000 acres. It’s now 100% contained.
- The Hurst fire also began January 7 and burned nearly 800 acres and is fully contained.
- The Lidia fire broke out January 8 and burned 395 acres and is now 100% contained
- The Kenneth fire began January 9 and burned 1,052 acres. It’s fully contained.
- The Sunset fire broke out January 8 and became fully contained January 9. It burned 43 acres.
- The Auto fire started January 13 and burned more than 60 acres. It is 100% contained.
- Twenty-nine people have died, and more than a dozen people are still reported missing.
- During the worst of the fires, 180,000 people were under evacuation orders. Officials continue to assess the situation.
- Crews from California and nine other states and Mexico have been fighting the flames with 1,400 fire engines and 84 aircraft.
What caused the fires in Los Angeles?
Authorities are still investigating the specific causes, but a combination of extreme weather patterns over the past two years led to the conditions that exacerbated the current fires.
The southern California region experienced extreme wet weather from winter of 2023 into spring of 2024, allowing much new vegetation to grow quickly. Then the area more recently experienced prolonged dry weather, creating conditions for fires to break out Tuesday, January 7. The proliferation of dry, young vegetation combined with the higher-than-usual Santa Ana winds — as high as 100 mph at times — caused the fires to spread much faster than normal.
What has been destroyed by the California fires?
More than 15,000 homes, businesses, and other buildings have been damaged or destroyed, but the full extent of the damage won’t be known for some time, as responders are still actively fighting the fires.
How is World Vision responding to the Los Angeles fires?
World Vision has served at least 21,800 people so far. In the first week of our response, our U.S. Programs team dispatched 11 truckloads of emergency response supplies to 13 different partners — two initial truckloads the day after the fires broke out, followed by nine more truckloads in the first few days of the fires.
The supplies were delivered to church and community partners across the Los Angeles area for them to distribute to help people affected by the fires.
Another 11 truckloads shipped during the second week of our response as well, and four more shipped during the third week, for a total of 26 truckloads of supplies.
The World Vision Storehouse is a network of warehouses across the country, and the shipments went out from our locations in Fife, Washington, as well as Dallas, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and West Virginia.
The shipments include supplies such as:
- Water
- Face masks and gloves
- Food
- Air beds
- Hygiene kits
- Sheets and blankets
- Coolers
- Shoes
- Socks
- Cleaning wipes
- Diapers
- Formula
- Tools
- Clothing
- Children’s toys
In total, we’ve worked with 21 different partners in Los Angeles to reach people affected by the fires. World Vision partnered with the Los Angeles Dream Center to distribute supplies from the initial shipments on Thursday, January 9, and Friday, January 10, to families affected by the wildfires.
“We’ve got ashes falling from the sky, but World Vision just shows up,” says Matthew Barnett, founder of the Los Angeles Dream Center. “That’s what you do — you show up for people. We at the Dream Center are so grateful. We love you. You guys are always the first ones to step up, always the first ones to bring a truck, always the first ones to provide support. … I love you guys, I thank God for you, and we couldn’t do this without you.”
We also distributed supplies from these shipments throughout the weekend through partnership with the Flintridge Center.
“We can’t do this work without partnership,” says Josh McCurry, executive director of the Flintridge Center. “We need every resource we can get right now.
“The reality is many folks don’t know exactly what they’ve lost yet. Many folks haven’t had a chance to go back to their homes. Many folks don’t know if they still have their homes.”
Hundreds of local volunteers have shown up to help church and community members by unloading pallets, organizing supplies, and handing out those supplies to people affected by the fires.
“You have families here that houses have burned down, and they still came to volunteer and show their time,” says Brandon Lamar, a distribution organizer. “This is what community looks like. You have people from different beliefs, different walks of life, that just want to lend a hand.”
World Vision also distributed supplies in partnership with Adventist Health, California Worship Center, Calvary Baptist Church (Santa Monica), Calvary CME Pasadena Church, Cathedral Church at Highland Park, Center of Hope Church, CityServe Bakersfield, Do Right Church, Dream City Church, Faithful Central Church, Fearless Church LA, First Church of the Nazarene (Pasadena), Glendale Presbyterian Church, Mandarin Baptist Church, New Jericho Christian Church, New Story Church, Victory Bible Church, Vida Church, and Vintage Church Pasadena.
We also brought together World Vision’s staff from both the U.S. and around the world, Team World Vision volunteers, pastor partners, and other community volunteers to distribute essential supplies at the World Vision Global Center office in Monrovia, California, on Sunday, January 12.
Throughout the past weekends’ distributions, in addition to local volunteers, Pastor Jerry Haynes of Beaumont, Texas, greeted people as they arrived, asking if he could pray for them and passing out supplies. Pastor Jerry’s church was impacted by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. He’s now a Pastor Ambassador: World Vision connects pastors who have previously been through disasters to pastors currently experiencing a disaster in order to provide encouragement, prayer, and support to them. Pastors face unique challenges as they shepherd their congregations through traumatic events while also navigating the aftermath of a disaster themselves.
World Vision president and CEO Edgar Sandoval Sr. also visited Los Angeles January 16, 2025, to meet with community members, pastor partners, volunteers, and church leaders.
He visited a distribution at the Los Angeles Dream Center and joined a relief distribution World Vision had in partnership First Church of the Nazarene and the USC men’s basketball team.
Edgar also toured a community in Altadena, which was devastated by the Eaton fire.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the destruction of homes, churches, communities — it’s really at a level and at a scale that is unimaginable,” Edgar said while in Los Angeles. “Many families have lost everything. The homes and communities they’ve worked hard to build over the years — or even generations — are gone. I have seen and felt God’s presence in some of the hardest, most heartbreaking places in the world, and I feel it here in the communities I have visited. Part of World Vision’s strength is our ability to respond immediately to disasters both here at home and around the world. … In the midst of this tragedy, I’m so grateful that World Vision is able to respond and provide supplies, support, [and] prayers.”
As the initial response slows, World Vision will now turn to long-term recovery and working with local partners to assist with rebuilding efforts.
How can I help children and families affected by the fires?
- Pray: Join us in praying for people in the Los Angeles area who continue to be impacted by these catastrophic fires — and people across the U.S. who are affected by disasters.
- Give: Your gift will help provide essential aid to families impacted by the wildfires in California and other disasters across the U.S.
