Emergency Executive Orders Issued to Mitigate Effects of Wildfires

As the world witnessed on January 7, 2025, the first plumes of black smoke from a devastating firestorm emerged from the Pacific Palisades area in Los Angeles, and, hours later, another fire erupted in Altadena Pasadena. Hurricane-like winds speeds rapidly spread these and five other fires that ultimately resulted in multiple deaths, annihilation of nearly 50,00 acres of land, and the destruction or damaging of 16,250 structures, including homes, businesses and places of worship. Accu-Weather and JP Morgan estimate that the damage and economic loss to be between $250 billion and $275 billion, making this disaster among the costly in U.S. history.

In the wake of this unprecedented disaster, California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass exercised their emergency powers to issue a number of emergency orders. While the firestorm will undoubtedly result in several new statutes, ordinances, and regulations, these emergency orders currently govern.

In this Los Angeles Lawyer article, Loeb Real Estate partner Jill Jones and Corporate associate Nick Warshaw examine the emergency orders issued by federal, state and local authorities to accelerate recovery following the catastrophic wildfires that swept through Los Angeles in January 2025—from suspensions of environmental laws and anti-price-gouging protections to streamlined rebuilding processes and measures to support the continued education of displaced students. The orders aim to expedite debris removal, prevent exploitation of displaced residents and enable rapid reconstruction while balancing environmental and zoning concerns.

For more information, please see Los Angeles Lawyer’s website.