California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has ordered a suspension of environmental laws and permitting requirements to help victims of the Los Angeles wildfires rebuild their homes and businesses. The move is part of what he described as a California version of the Marshall Plan, the US-led reconstruction effort in western Europe after the second world war. Costs from the fires are estimated at $135bn to $150bn over a decade, according to AccuWeather.
Newsom’s executive order applies only to properties rebuilt in substantially the same location, with height and footprint not exceeding 110% of their original size. “California leads the nation in environmental stewardship. I’m not going to give that up,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press. “But one thing I won’t give into is delay. Delay is denial for people: lives, traditions, places torn apart, torn asunder.”
Meanwhile, investigators are examining why the Palisades and Eaton fires ignited, with Santa Ana winds forecast to strengthen overnight and into Tuesday. A leading theory is that overhead transmission and distribution lines, rocked or brought down by the winds, sparked dry vegetation. Utilities often shut off power during red-flag events, but lines were still energised when the fires began last Tuesday.
Power equipment has been blamed for previous disasters, including California’s 2018 Camp fire, which killed 85 people, the 2023 Maui fire, and a 2021 Oregon fire that destroyed 300 homes. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reportedly lacks a programme to pre-emptively shut off power in urban areas during high fire risk. Robert McCullough, an electric utility consultant, described the department’s shutdown plan as “woefully inadequate”, noting its grid was designed for wind speeds of only 56mph.
Data from Whisker Labs, a firm that monitors power grids, suggests some homes in Altadena still had power when the fire broke out. CEO Bob Marshall said the grid showed considerable stress before the eruption, indicating a possible line contact with vegetation or another line. Southern California Edison, which serves Altadena, said it would review all available information but found “no interruptions or electrical or operational anomalies until more than one hour after the reported start time of the fire”. Insurance companies have asked the utility to preserve evidence, while a Washington Post photograph showed a transmission tower near Eaton Canyon that allegedly remained live.
