• FIRE RESEARCH HUB
    Informing an expedited fire recovery while advancing equity and resilience

The January 2025 wildfires devastated L.A., claiming lives, homes, jobs, and whole communities. UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI) takes a fundamentally collaborative approach to evaluate and advance solutions across different policymaking sectors and scales. This page is a hub of information to inform public discourse, decision-making, and equity-centered recovery.

Blue Ribbon Commission for Climate Action and Fire Safe Recovery

Led by LCI’s faculty director, Megan Mullin, UCLA scholars are providing research to inform policy recommendations on rebuilding and catalyzing climate-resiliency investments.

“An uncoordinated race to rebuild will amplify inequality and leave people at risk of future fires. This commission seeks to change that with thoughtful, data-driven policy solutions to build resilient communities for the future we’re facing.” – Megan Mullin

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Join us on April 16 for the Luskin Summit 2025: Guiding an Equitable Recovery in L.A.

EXPERTS

Megan Mullin, Faculty Director
Gregory Pierce, Research and Co-Executive Director; Director, Human Right to Water Solutions Lab
Edith de Guzman, Policy Specialist
Rachel Connolly, Project Director
Liz Koslov, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning
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RAPID RESPONSE RESEARCH

The L.A. wildfires brought the urgency of climate resilience harrowingly close to home. We’re building partnerships and working with policymakers to improve the region’s fire-readiness.

UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative

Chaired by LCI’s co-executive director, Gregory Pierce, the Urban Water Supply + Fire working group of the Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative will form a Research and Policy Coordination Network and facilitate four workshops on the following topics:

  1. Strengthening drinking water infrastructure resilience,
  2. Addressing equity in the cost of new resilience investments,
  3. Ensuring water quality and community trust after fires, and
  4. Navigating the relationships among wildfire risk, vegetation, and water supply in urban areas.
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Evaluating the Role of Vegetation in Urban Fires

LCI’s Edith de Guzman is conducting a rapid forensic assessment of the role of trees in fire dynamics within the Palisades Fire perimeter, in collaboration with partners from UC Davis, UC Agriculture & Natural Resources, and the USDA Forest Service. The goals are to:

  1. Measure tree damage, loss, and mortality;
  2. Assess fire damage to the urban forest concerning the structure, built environment material, and data on fire dynamics;
  3. Find examples of unburned landscaping and vegetation around burnt buildings; and
  4. Test the extent to which tree species with varying ecological traits might have ignited and contributed to the spread of the fire.

The results can inform rebuilding efforts and offer lessons for future events.

Monitoring Soil Contamination After the Fires

The wildfires destroyed over 15,000 structures, leaving behind toxic ash and debris. Heavy rain in February washed contaminated materials beyond the burn zones, increasing exposure risks. In collaboration with Associate Professor Sanjay Mohanty, LCI’s Greg Pierce is assessing contamination from toxic ash and debris in public areas within and beyond the burn perimeters of the Palisades and Eaton Fires. After collecting soil samples, the team will analyze them for heavy metals such as lead, chromium, arsenic, and lithium as well as organic pollutants including PFAS and VOCs. The findings will help determine if the removal of the top six inches of soil is sufficient to reduce health risks.

ENGAGED RESEARCH

Challenges in Managed Retreat in Response to Fires

Researchers: Liz Koslov, UCLA Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and LCI affiliated scholar, and Kathryn McConnell, University of British Columbia Assistant Professor of Sociology

There Is No Way to Retreat From the Risk of Wildfires (guest essay in The New York Times 2025)

“We need a serious discussion of how to live with fire in this new era… we need greater investment in preparing our buildings, and community-led experiments in new ways to protect neighborhoods.”

– Liz Koslov and Kathryn McConnell

Critically Assessing the Idea of Wildfire-Managed Retreat (article in Environmental Research Letters 2024)

The authors lay out a research agenda to critically evaluate managed retreat – the intentional relocation of built infrastructure away from hazardous areas – as an adaptive response to wildfire.

Researcher(s): Gregory Pierce, co-executive director; Edith de Guzman, water equity and adaptation policy specialist; and Megan Mullin, faculty director

The authors discuss three major implications stemming from the water supply narratives around the Los Angeles fires that have emerged: the need for greater infrastructure resilience, considering the uneven costs of new expectations, and combating disinformation.

Researcher(s): Gregory Pierce, co-executive director of LCI, et al., including Lauren Dunlap, project manager at LCI

This FAQ about wildfires provides clear, accurate answers to the most common questions we hear from the public, media, and policymakers about fire hydrants, firefighting, water infrastructure, and more after the devastating LA wildfires in 2025.

Researcher(s): Rachel Connolly, project director at LCI, et al.

Smoke produced by California wildfires kills far more people than flames do, according to research from UCLA. From 2008 to 2018, more than 52,000 premature deaths have been linked to exposure to the smoke’s toxic particles.

Author(s): Gregory Pierce, co-executive director of LCI, et al.

This study analyzes the risk of extreme heat and wildfires on households living in manufactured housing, such as mobile homes, in California. The authors find that these households face consistently higher exposure to extreme heat and wildfires.

Researcher(s): Gregory Pierce, co-executive director of LCI, et al.

Stakeholders from across disciplines and institutions offer recommendations to ensure a safe, reliable water supply amid a growing wildfire threat.

Author(s): C.J. Gabbe, Gregory Pierce, and Efren Oxlaj

This study finds that subsidized housing is less likely than other housing types to be in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. However, the magnitude of the overlap between vulnerable households and the WUI, which includes households in over 140,000 subsidized units, justifies further research and policy action.

EVENTS AND TALKS

Events and Talks

Join us on April 16 – Luskin Summit 2025: Guiding an Equitable Recovery in L.A

The 7th annual UCLA Luskin Summit will focus on rebuilding and recovery in the L.A. region following January’s devastating wildfires. In collaboration with community groups and government agencies, experts from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs will share information that can guide equitable recovery, rebuilding, and climate resilience. Opening and closing sessions will provide updates on rebuilding efforts and how philanthropy can support collective recovery.

Past Events and Talks:

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