The Los Angeles City Community Wildfire Protection Plan
A framework for hazard mitigation, community preparedness, and resilience
A wildfire plan For everyone in Los Angeles
MySafe:LA is creating the first Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for the City of Los Angeles. These plans are usually designed for rural areas or smaller communities, defining clear boundaries between urban and wildland regions. However, the City of Los Angeles presents a more complex scenario. It encompasses around 503 square miles, houses 3.82 million residents, and attracts over 500,000 visitors and non-resident workers daily. Funded by FEMA, this initiative aims to enhance community engagement in wildfire prevention, resilience, response, and recovery efforts.
Why Does Los Angeles Need a CWPP?
We Want To Hear From You!
Involving the public in wildfire safety conversations is crucial for developing a CWPP that meets the specific needs and worries of Los Angeles residents – including you – living in high-risk parts of the city. Public engagement highlights essential preparedness gaps, such as evacuation difficulties, community weaknesses, and places that require better defensible space. Furthermore, it promotes a collective sense of responsibility, motivating you to take the initiative to enhance your neighborhood’s safety. The public comment period, starting in December 2024 and lasting until the end of February 2025, is a vital chance for you to express your concerns and suggest creative approaches to strengthen wildfire mitigation efforts. Your feedback will help ensure that the CWPP is thorough and suited to Los Angeles’s diverse communities, ultimately encouraging collaboration and resilience against increasing wildfire threats.
Learn more by downloading the CWPP Executive Summary.
A complex city
A mediterranean climate
Another factor that impacts the need for a CWPP is the L.A. climate model. Essentially, Los Angeles has traditionally benefited from a mediterranean (semiarid) mild climate. Historically, this relates to three key natural conditions: The region’s latitude is outside of the range of the most severe North Pacific winter storms; a cooling layer of marine air moderates the summer sun, and the tall mountain ranges shield the region from potentially intense blasts of desert heat and cold.
Historically, L.A. experiences two seasons: The first and most recognized is the dry and mildly warm period lasting from April to early November. The second is the “wet” season, when colder air and some periods of rain occur, typically from November to the end of March. The typical annual rainfall levels for the Los Angeles region are in the 15-inches range. During an El Nino year, the annual rainfall can increase by 50% or more.
Climate change is doing exactly that – it’s changing weather in Los Angeles, and a CWPP will help residents gain a better understanding of not only the impact on the local weather, but the impact on their daily lives as well. In 2023, nine atmospheric rivers dumped 11.5 inches of rain on L.A. in less than 14 days. While the growth that rain generated was lovely to see, by late summer it had become fuel for the next deadly wildfire.
So, how is climate change affecting us? Heat – deadly heat for extended periods. Drought. It was reduced in 2023, but how does the future look? Grim. Landslides? Mudslides? Flood watches? and of course – wildfires.
So, how is climate change affecting us? Heat – deadly heat for extended periods. Drought. It was reduced in 2023, but how does the future look? Grim. Landslides? Mudslides? Flood watches? and of course – wildfires.
What's next?
Take the wildfire survey!
As we develop a CWPP for Los Angeles, collaboration with the public is essential. We’re seeking input from people who live in the wildland urban interface. People like you! Can you help? Our wildfire survey doesn’t take long to complete, and we’re giving away fun prizes like Starbucks cards, VISA gift cards, and much more. A minimum of ten winners will be awarded during the current survey period (spring 2024).
