Science supports Los Angeles wildfires’ aftermath

In early 2025, wildfires ravaged Southern California. Firefighters spent days battling flames that engulfed houses, businesses and landmarks while forcing thousands to flee. But even once the fires came under control, the danger wasn’t over. As the smoke cleared from the burned hillsides of Los Angeles, a new kind of urgency mounted.

Now the threat was not from flames but instead from what could come next: flash floods, mudslides, and a stripped landscape vulnerable to intense rain events. Amidst the ashes of the Eaton and Palisades Fires, specialised teams from the USDA Forest Service mobilised, equipped not with hoses but with cutting-edge science to protect people and communities.

After a wildfire, the Forest Service’s first priority is emergency stabilisation to prevent further damage to life, property or natural resources. Scientists at the Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station and the University of Idaho were crucial to Southern California’s immediate post-fire recovery, steering emergency mitigation and remediation planning.

“Erosion modelling for the Eaton Fire and all other fires guided decisions on whether to implement land treatments, such as mulching hillslopes, to reduce erosion and the subsequent sedimentation,” said Eric Nicita, regional coordinator for the Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team.

The BAER Team is an interagency group of specially trained professionals who rapidly evaluate the burned area and prescribe emergency stabilisation treatments to protect life, property, and critical natural and cultural resources. The team used a suite of publicly available tools and models to assess the conditions in the forest after the fire.