Daily Wildfire Updates: Jan. 29, 2025

A person wearing light brown overalls and a blue Los Angeles baseball cap carries a crate of bottled water and walks towards a white car with the trunk open as it waits in line to receive
donations at a donation site.

Workers with the California Conservation Corps carry sandbags and compost filter socks as they work on various erosion, flood and debris control efforts to help mitigate flooding and debris flow ahead of forecasted rain following the Eaton Fire. Jan. 26, 2025. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Tomorrow is our final edition of the Daily Wildfire Updates pop-up newsletter. We will restart this newsletter if emergency responses ramp up again. You’ll keep getting CalMatters’ coverage of California wildfires and other important issues in our daily or weekly newsletter.

Hey there, and welcome to the daily public media wildfires update.

It’s hard to know what comes next for Los Angeles, but we do know the cleanup phase is going to be a long one. In today’s newsletter, CalMatters explores what Texas’s experience can teach LA about rebuilding following a natural disaster, LAist looks at the lithium and other materials burned in the fires, and PBS NewsHour talks to the team behind the indispensable Watch Duty app.

Plus, Meryl Streep — yes, that Meryl Streep — cut a car-sized hole in her fence to escape the wildfires. Why are we not surprised?

Make sure to share your Love Letters to LA with KCRW — the station is collecting your favorite LA stories that celebrate community following the wildfire tragedies.

Stay safe.

The Latest

Glendale real estate agent charged in rent-gouging case. (LAist)
Trump’s conditions on aid put California Republicans in a tough spot. (CalMatters)
Meet the team behind the Watch Duty app. (PBS News Hour)

Looking Ahead

What California can learn from Texas on rebuilding after a natural disaster. (CalMatters)
Where are the hazardous materials from cars and other things burned in the fires going? (LAist)

Fact Check

How long could ash be a problem in LA? (LAist)

Resources & Ways to Help

EPA chief on hazardous waste removal. (Press Play/KCRW)
Wildfire cleanup panel playback: Health concerns, insurance, and more. (KCRW)
Volunteers are replacing beloved stuffed animals lost in the LA wildfires. (KCRW)

Moment of Zen/Mental Health

Share your ode to Los Angeles with KCRW for the upcoming ‘Love Letters to LA’ feature. (KCRW)
At the farmers market, chef Travis Hayden starts rebuilding by feeding others. (KCRW)
Great music for a great cause: Listen to and explore a running roundup of the benefit compilations released by and for LA’s music community impacted by the fires. (KCRW Music Relief)

Elsewhere on the Internet

Did a private equity fire truck roll-up worsen the LA fires? (BIG by Matt Stoller)
Meryl Streep, fire superhero. (People)
The Tom Waits song that got one fire victim through losing her home in 2017 to the Tubbs Fire. (USA TODAY)

This newsletter features free news and resources on the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County. Did someone forward you this email?

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