Longterm Effects of the California Wildfires 

By Annabelle & Everley
Published February 21, 2025

In California, there were a total of 8,024 wildfires in 2024 only (and more to come in  2025). There were 55,082 acres burned, and 16,188 structures destroyed. According to The Associated Press, they have not found a cause for these wildfires. While firefighters have made progress by putting out more than 10,000 acres, the heavy rain did most of the work. It is helpful when natural events are helping put out a lot of the wildfires. More than 24 people died because of these fires.

Something about how even though the fires had an immediate and lethal impact on the people of LA, there are also long term effects to consider.According to Association of Health Care Journalists , there are health effects, like a scratchy throat and a really bad cough, and for children and elderly these risks are extremely high. You can also develop other health problems such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also known as COPD which is the fourth leading cause of death in the world. COPD killed 3.5 million people in 2021. This is one of the reasons that we need to be careful around wildfires. Other problems that the wildfires could cause are worse birth outcomes and cardiovascular health problems from inhaling this smoke and being near the wildfires. Cardiovascular health is the health of your heart and blood vessels. Inhaling the smoke can cause strokes, heart attacks, and premature death. Some other problems are acute myocardial infarction, cardiovascular mortality, cardiovascular emergency department visits, hospitalization, cardiac arrest, and many many more. 

The wildfires are estimated to cost from 135 billion to 150 billion dollars. The insurance cost of these fires is about 30 billion dollars, but the total damage cost will be a whopping 250 billion dollars. The total economic loss could be far, far greater.  People who lived in Los Angeles already had to pay a large amount of money for housing, but with the fires, most people will not be able to afford to live in their old neighborhoods because of the money they need to rebuild houses and the quantity of housing. Even with mortgage help from the government, they still will not have enough money to live in the same area. The demand for housing will skyrocket as the supply of affordable housing goes down into the ground, possibly leading to a huge financial crisis. 

Families can lose their children’s belongings, and a sense that their memories are safe. They have lost everything. Most people prior to the fires have experienced and will experience anxiety and anger. There is a higher risk of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), which can cause depression and anxiety. Children will have to live with the thought of maybe never seeing their friends again. Some children are very sentimental, so the thought of going without that special blanket you loved, for example, is horrifying and heartbreaking and can cause emotional damage. The school, the tree in the park, all the little things that they enjoyed, gone. Reduced to only a mere pile of blackened ash, or partially destroyed. This is a major issue and will affect many people for years to come.  

The fires have also been negatively affecting the wildlife. Some  animals can escape if they are lucky enough. Some cannot escape due to mobility and they are surrounded by flames and they just can not get through the flames. Mountain lions among many organisms are trying to escape the flames. Yellow legged frogs were in really big danger long before these most-recent wildfires. Often, frogs will swim to the deep deep waters, to escape the horrible, disastrous, catastrophic fires. Also numerous amounts of deer, bears, peacocks, birds, and a lot of other animals will often move around until the fire is complete.

These are just some effects and there are numerous others. All of these problems will affect society and the state of our future for years to come.