Can California Prepare Better and Prevent Catastrophic Wildfires?

The strong Santa Ana winds, combined with a dry autumn following two very wet years that led to the rapid growth of flammable chaparral and grass, created a perfect storm for wildfires in California.

The hot weather, dry air, and vulnerable houses in fire-prone areas contributed to the speed and intensity of the fires. Ultimately, these devastating fires destroyed thousands of homes and structures, claiming the lives of at least 29 people. This disaster has now become one of the worst and costliest natural events in US history.

California is no stranger to wildfires. The state has an annual wildfire season, and fires are possible throughout the year. The peak fire season in Northern California usually begins in June or July and runs through late October or November. However, the Southern California peak fire season starts earlier, beginning in late spring (May-June) and runs until October.

As of this blog post, the LA Times reports that three of its biggest fires, Eaton, Hughes, and Palisades, which erupted on 7 January 2025, are 99%, 98%, and 95% contained, respectively.

The wildfires have damaged public infrastructure by approximately $350 million. AccuWeather estimates that total damages and economic losses from the LA wildfires will exceed $250 billion.

As the wildfires rage for days and the emergency people cannot contain the fires because the hydrants run dry so early in the crisis, it raises questions about fire preparedness and infrastructure.   For instance, the 117-million-gallon Santa Ynez water resource near the Pacific Palisades was under renovation and empty when fires tore through the Los Angeles neighbourhood. CBS News reports that the California Governor called for an investigation into the unavailability of water from the reservoir.

The newly elected US President Trump flew to California on the 24th of January to survey the destruction from deadly wildfires. His visit came at the end of his first week back in the white house as he criticised the state’s mismanagement of forests. He said the LA fires were burning “without even a token of defence” during his presidential inauguration speech. He blames the lack of water to fight the fire on Governor Newsom’s “refusal to sign the water restoration declaration” – preventing millions of gallons of water from flowing from Northern to Southern California.

On his first day in office, he signed an executive order directing his agencies  “to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply.”

President Trump was referencing a proposal from his first administration to redirect water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta down to Central Valley farms and Southern California urban areas.

California officials and environmentalists successfully sued to challenge it partly because they argued the rules would endanger wildlife in the Delta, including the smelt fish. An official who helps oversee Southern California’s water supply disputed Trump’s claim that his proposed changes could have mitigated the wildfires.

Trump has previously suggested that California adopt forest management practices, such as sweeping and soaking forest floors, to reduce the risk of wildfires. His comments were part of broader discussions about managing wildfires, especially in the wake of devastating fires in the state.

On sweeping forest floors, CNN reports that California has been thinning overgrown forests and shrublands and treating them with prescribed burns to reduce brush and dried wood that could fuel catastrophic fires. In 2023, more than 1,500 square miles of state and federal land in California was “raked”. Underbrush and debris were removed, and the land was treated with prescribed fire, timber harvest or animal grazing to reduce wildfire fuel.

In 2024, the US Forest Service alone thinned out roughly 500 square miles, and the agency has treated nearly 80 square miles in Southern California since 2023, including some areas that overlapped with the Eaton Fire. A Forest Service spokesperson told CNN that treatment on Mt. Wilson, northeast of Altadena, “played a significant role in avoiding damages” to critical communication infrastructure.

However, environmental regulations protect the chaparral scrub, which contains low trees and bushes that thrive in hot, dry conditions in Southern California. Combined with the dense residential area near it, residents fear prescribed fires, which are done infrequently because they risk litigation if they go wrong.

With regards to President Trump’s suggestion of soaking the forest floor to reduce the risk of ignition in certain areas, while it can work in some forest areas, it doesn’t fully address the underlying causes of wildfires, such as prolonged drought, high temperatures, and climate change, which have made fires more intense and frequent. Additionally, soaking forests with water requires enormous amounts of water, which could be viable when the state has an abundant source. However, with the state facing water scarcity challenges, periods of drought, and water supply often competing with the needs of agriculture and domestic needs, it could be impractical.

As California experiences more severe droughts interspersed with rare wet years, experts have suggested that the state construct more reservoirs to store water for drought years. Building more water reservoirs could increase the state’s water supplies and help the state in multiple ways, particularly in wildfire prevention.

By capturing more rainfall during wet years, the state could have a larger, more reliable water supply during droughts and firefighting efforts, which is crucial during peak fire season, especially in remote areas with limited access to water.

Channelling more water to Southern California

NBC reports that on 28 January, President Trump announced on Trutch Social that “The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond” (Austin, 2025).

The California Department of Water Resources responded, saying, “The military did not enter California.” Instead, the federal government “restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days,” adding, “State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.”

Most of California’s water originates in the northern part of the state, where it melts from mountain snow and flows into rivers that lead to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. From this delta, a significant portion of the water is transported south to farmers and cities, including Los Angeles, via two major pumping and canal systems. The federal government operates one of these systems, while the state manages the other.

When the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked at a briefing what role soldiers played in California water policy, she said California had “turned on the water,” referring to the authorities allowing water to flow from northern California to southern parts of the state. “The Army Corps of Engineers has been on the ground to respond to the devastation from these wildfires,” Leavitt said.

The White House suggested Tuesday, 29 January, that Trump was referring to the US Army Corps of Engineers but did not provide details about how much water was involved, where it came from or how changes were implemented.

Thailand’s soaks their forest floors.

Thailand wildfires occur every year and affect most of the country. These wildfires occur in high mountain ranges, and most were ignited by people foraging for food. To mitigate the severity of these fires and their impact on people’s health, the province of Lampang launched the Pa Piak (wet forest) project. The wet forest project is one of the many fires of firebreaks and has successfully limited the spread of wildfires. Bangkok Post reports that this forest management technique has been expanded to cover all 36 communities.

Other forest management techniques applied in Thailand include diverting water from irrigated sources and rainwater to small waterways, which are then bordered with plants to help retain moisture, building check dams to hold water and sediments, and releasing water from the top of a mountain in fire-prone areas to cascade and keep the ground damp.

“Although these firebreaks may not be 100% effective in preventing wildfires, they are better than having no defence at all,” says Suraphon Tansuwan, head of the Pa Piak firebreak development group in Lampang (Laohong, 2020).

The Western Fire Chiefs Association, an Oregon-based association serving as a representative of choice of and for career and volunteer leaders of fire-related emergency service organisations throughout the WFCA member states and the Western Pacific Islands, enumerates their firefighting techniques to prevent the spread of wildfires. These include:

• Establishing fire lines —a break in vegetation and potential fuel. This break is created by removing all vegetation to bare mineral soil or rock.
• Backfiring. A backfire is when firefighters deliberately start a fire before an active wildfire to consume fuel. This can block the path of a wildfire or change the direction the fire is moving.
• Water and Foam – While water is used to put out wildfires, if fires are too hot, the water can evaporate before it effectively cools the fire or fuel in the area. In this case, firefighting foams contain surfactants that essentially reduce the surface of the liquid and increase the water’s ability to soak the area. The foaming property forms a blanket that blocks oxygen from reaching potential fuels and keeps the area cool, preventing reignition.
• Firebreaks. They are similar to fire lines, but firebreaks are permanent barriers. They can be man-made structures like road-cleared vegetation to establish a long-term firebreak.
• Mopping-up. This refers to a boundary around a wildfire, even when it is 100% to reduce the damage it causes. To establish a boundary, ground crews sweep the area to extinguish or remove burning materials, putting out any still-burning trees and checking for embers to prevent reignition.

The recent wildfires in California have again highlighted the devastating impacts of inadequate preparedness for extreme weather events. The controversy surrounding California’s water management policies, particularly the empty reservoir and hydrants, has drawn public backlash. President Trump’s claims regarding water rerouting and forest management practices have sparked a debate over the most effective methods for preventing wildfires.

The state’s experience points to the need for a more comprehensive approach to wildfire prevention, including better forest and water management and strategies to adapt to climate change. As wildfires become an increasingly common threat, California, like other regions globally, must invest in long-term solutions to reduce fire risks and enhance resilience to future disasters.