Assessment of the January 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires: A multi-modal analysis of impact, response, and population exposure

TL;DR

This comprehensive multi-modal study analyzes four California wildfires, assessing their land cover impact, management complexity, structural damage, and demographic exposure to inform targeted wildfire response strategies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multi-dimensional analysis combining remote sensing, jurisdictional management, and demographic data for wildfire impact assessment.

Findings

Shrubland ecosystems were most affected, comprising 57.4-75.8% of burned areas.

Urban interface fires caused significantly more structural damage than rural fires.

Over 20,000 people were affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires.

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of four significant California wildfires: Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth, and Hurst, examining their impacts through multiple dimensions, including land cover change, jurisdictional management, structural damage, and demographic vulnerability. Using the Chebyshev-Kolmogorov-Arnold network model applied to Sentinel-2 imagery, the extent of burned areas was mapped, ranging from 315.36 to 10,960.98 hectares. Our analysis revealed that shrubland ecosystems were consistently the most affected, comprising 57.4-75.8% of burned areas across all events. The jurisdictional assessment demonstrated varying management complexities, from singular authority (98.7% in the Palisades Fire) to distributed management across multiple agencies. A structural impact analysis revealed significant disparities between urban interface fires (Eaton: 9,869 structures; Palisades: 8,436 structures) and rural events (Kenneth: 24 structures; Hurst: 17 structures). The demographic analysis showed consistent gender distributions, with 50.9% of the population identified as female and 49.1% as male. Working-age populations made up the majority of the affected populations, ranging from 53.7% to 54.1%, with notable temporal shifts in post-fire periods. The study identified strong correlations between urban interface proximity, structural damage, and population exposure. The Palisades and Eaton fires affected over 20,000 people each, compared to fewer than 500 in rural events. These findings offer valuable insights for the development of targeted wildfire management strategies, particularly in wildland urban interface zones, and emphasize the need for age- and gender-conscious approaches in emergency response planning.