One year ago, devastating wildfires swept through Los Angeles—destroying homes and businesses, scorching tens of thousands of acres, and taking lives.
It’s easy to assume catastrophic fires are the new normal, the new American reality. But as RAND's Patrick Roberts writes in the Los Angeles Times this week, they don't have to be.
Roberts is the lead author of a new RAND study exploring how technologies can prevent routine fires from turning into disasters. Sensors and satellites can detect ignitions in minutes. Drones can map hazardous vegetation that is then cleared by autonomous vehicles. And fire-resistant building materials can keep homes intact even when embers land on them.
So why aren't these innovations widely deployed? It's because the United States lacks a coherent system for advancing and scaling wildfire technology. Currently, federal and state agencies, insurers, private companies, and other actors operate under different rules, budgets, and data systems.
The United States could move away from this fragmented system and toward a better approach. Other national systems—such as those for hurricane forecasting, earthquake preparedness, and aviation safety—show what’s possible. Wildfire needs its own version of a federal hub that connects innovators, funders, researchers, fire agencies, utilities, and communities.
“The anniversary of the L.A. wildfires is a reminder of what is at stake,” Roberts says. “Americans have transformed public risk systems before … through coordination and smart investment. Wildfire should be next.”
