The Costs of Wildfire in California

California’s 2020 fire season, still underway in late October as we go to press, has been a clarion call for the State. Although wildfires are a natural and integral part of California’s landscape, the record-breaking losses of the past several years have illustrated the increasing destruction and complexity of fire disasters, and have highlighted tensions between short-term responses focused on firefighting and longer-term strategies required to strengthen mitigation and resilience. Absent a reorientation of California’s approach to wildfire, these alarming trends are likely to worsen. However, there are important steps California can take as a state to minimize the destructiveness of wildfires and their attendant costs.