Mapping building damage during the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires

Our data on fire damage to buildings on the front page of the January 14th, 2025 New York Times.

Growing up in California – hazard country – motivated me to study hazards, disasters, wars, and conflict. When the Los Angeles widlfires hit, with friends and colleagues directly affected, I worked with Jamon Van Den Hoek to produce a preliminary assessment of damage using Sentinel-1 satellite radar data that we distributed freely to first responders in California and newsrooms around the world.

Our data on damage were included in reports on the severity of fire damage from several newsrooms (tabulated below) and were made openly-available through the official NASA Disasters data portal.

Damage data visualized in the 15 January, 2025 issue of Le Monde.
DateTitleLinkPublication
2025-01-10The iconic LA neighbourhoods reduced to asheshttps://www.ft.com/content/940000cd-f748-4383-bb24-2f9c32192cdcFT
2025-01-10Los Angeles fires: the damage in maps, video and imageshttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/10/los-angeles-fires-the-damage-in-maps-video-and-imagesGuardian
2025-01-10Palisades, Eaton fires expected to be most destructive in L.A. historyhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/interactive/2025/los-angeles-fires-palisades-eaton/Washington Post
2025-01-11Mapping the Damage in Altadena and Pacific Palisadeshttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/01/09/us/la-wildfires-damage-photos-map.htmlNew York Times
2025-01-13Wat is de schade in Los Angeles na zeven dagen brand?https://www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/v/2025/wat-is-de-schade-in-los-angeles-na-zeven-dagen-brand~v1294950/Volkskrant
2025-01-14Maps and images reveal scale of LA wildfire devastationhttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg525q2ggl4oBBC
2025-01-14Los Angeles fires: Entire neighbourhoods burnt in the two major fireshttps://www.thehindu.com/data/los-angeles-fires-entire-neighbourhoods-burnt-in-the-two-major-fires/article69098398.eceThe Hindu
2025-01-14How big are the L.A. fires? Putting the devastation in visual contexthttps://www.cbc.ca/news/world/la-fires-charts-maps-1.7430573?cmp=rssCBC
2025-01-14Which Health Facilities Have Been Impacted by L.A.-Area Fires? AI May Paint a Clearer Picturehttps://www.directrelief.org/2025/01/which-health-facilities-have-been-impacted-by-l-a-area-fires-ai-may-paint-a-clearer-picture/Direct Relief
2025-01-14Las imágenes satelitales que muestran la devastación de los incendios de Los Ángeleshttps://elpais.com/us/2025-01-15/las-imagenes-satelitales-que-muestran-la-devastacion-de-los-incendios-de-los-angeles.htmlEl Pais
2025-01-16After the Eaton Fire, will Altadena’s thriving Black and Latino communities be able to rebuild?https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/altadena-black-latino-community-20030205.phpSF Chronicle
2025-01-16Comprendre les feux de Los Angeles en carteshttps://www.ledevoir.com/monde/etats-unis/833476/comprendre-feux-los-angeles-cartesLe Devoir
2025-01-16Incredible street footage shows the unimaginable devastation after LA’s worst-ever wildfires ripped through city’s ritzy Palisades enclave leaving nothing but ashes and rubblehttps://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14291863/footage-devastation-LA-fires-city-ashes-rubble.htmlDaily Mail
2025-01-16Trêve à Gaza: revivez les éléments forts de la journée de jeudihttps://www.ledauphine.com/defense-guerre-conflit/2025/01/16/accord-de-treve-a-gaza-l-accord-de-cessez-le-feu-soumis-au-gouvernement-israelienLe Dauphine
2025-01-17L.A. fire damage: These searchable maps provide the most detailed look yet at devastationhttps://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2025/la-fires-damage-map/SF Chronicle
2025-01-18The perfect storm: why did LA’s wildfires explode out of control?https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/jan/18/la-fires-started-conditions-droughtGuardian
2025-01-20Our Reporter Deployed With an L.A. Fire-Damage Inspector. Here’s What He Saw.https://www.wsj.com/us-news/our-reporter-deployed-with-an-l-a-fire-damage-inspector-heres-what-he-saw-071a76b8Wall Street Journal

Related