The number of deaths from the wildfires that destroyed entire communities in the Los Angeles area in January 2025 has risen to 29, the county medical examiner’s office said.

Wildfires are endemic to California and natives used fire to shape the land. Orange County and California must learn from the wildfires and decades of government failure in Los Angeles County, and prevent the next disaster.

A new wildfire was reported 5:09 p.m. Jan. 18 in Los Angeles County. Clear Fire has been burning on federal land managed by the United States Forest Service for four days. At this time, the containment status is unknown and the cause of the fire remains undetermined.

At least 29 people are believed to be dead and more than a dozen others remain unaccounted for as multiple wildfires rage across Southern California.

The death toll from the wildfires plaguing the Los Angeles area in the United States has risen to 29. The coroner’s office announced on Monday evening that one person died in hospital over the weekend as a result of the “Palisades’’ fire on the western edge of Los Angeles.

Palisades Fire initially started 10:30 a.m. Jan. 7 in Los Angeles County. It has burned 23,448 acres after being active for 20 days. A crew of 1,043 firefighters has been working on site and they managed to contain 94% of the fire by Monday afternoon.