What You Can Do Legally About the California Wildfires

How to Protect Yourself Legally if You Are Affected by the California Wildfires of 2025

The wildfires that devastated the areas in Greater Los Angeles in January of 2025 have been estimated to have caused $150 billion dollars of damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. When the immediate problems of evacuation, saving lives and combating the fires have ended, residents and business owners will need to quickly scramble to legally protect themselves and find a way to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. The following provides information to help residents and business owners navigate the shoals of wildfire recovery.

Current State of Affairs

The wildfires of January 2025 affected the northern areas of Greater Los Angeles and a bit beyond, including the Pacific Palisades, the Eaton area north of Pasadena, Altedena, the West Hills area of the San Fernando Valley, the Hollywood Hills, Ventura County, the Angeles National Forest, Granada Hills and near Sylmar. The fires were whipped by extreme Santa Ana winds. Some people have lost their lives, and many people are displaced because their homes were incinerated. Others have had their homes looted and businesses have been made inoperable or destroyed. Now that the flames are out, the danger of flooding is a real threat on the denuded hillsides north of Los Angeles.

Some of these fires have no current known cause. In the case of the Eaton Fire near Pasadena, Southern California Edison has been accused of failing to maintain the power lines, possibly sparking the fire. The power company is also looking into the possibility that their equipment may be responsible for the Hurst Fire. Further, there have been allegations that firefighting response was hampered in some areas by hydrants with little or no water supply.

Legally Protect Your Home or Business if You Are a California Wildfire Victim

In order to ensure you receive insurance proceeds and government disaster relief, it is a very good idea to consult a California-licensed state attorney or law firm. A qualified state attorney can help you recover from the disaster in a variety of ways:

• File all of the paperwork for your insurance claim and advocate on your behalf to receive payouts for your residential and/or business losses
• Provide you information on disaster recovery resources from federal, state, local and foundation sources, such as FEMA, the state of California and non-profit organizations
• Negotiate with an insurer who is failing to adequately reimburse you for residential or business losses
• Protect business owners and help them understand and navigate state law in regards to their employees in the event your business is temporarily or permanently inoperable
• Litigate on behalf of residents, business owners and employees who have suffered a loss due to liability and negligence on the part of insurers, utility companies, government agencies and/or other parties

Legal Actions in the Case of Wildfire

There are a number of legal actions that wildfire survivors may claim to aid their recovery from the disaster. The key is to realize that legal claims need to be backed up by proof of some kind of injury or harm. That harm can be from any of the following and more:

• Insurance company failing to provide contractually-required payout for losses
• Utility company’s resources and/or equipment sparking the fire
• County or state agency negligence in maintaining proper hydrant pressure
• Employer not following state law in regards to employee compensation and rights due to the wildfire event
• State and/or local agencies creating roadblocks to homeowners and businesses in their rebuilding efforts

It is key to have a trusted law firm on your side when you attempt to navigate the aftermath of wildfire losses, so you can get your family and/or business back on the road to recovery. Often, there are time limits on filing legal actions, for insurance compensation and relief funds, so it is best to act quickly to secure representation to get your life back in order.