Members of the St. Helena Fire Department have battled devastating fires in Northern California. Last Thursday, they rolled into Los Angeles at 2 a.m. to assist in the southern part of the state.

For years, renowned fire experts Jack Cohen and Stephen Pyne have tried to shift the conversation on fire prevention strategies. This week’s destruction, they say, could have been minimized.

In other parts of California burned by past wildfires, communities are still dealing with the fallout years later.

Two wildfires still burning in Los Angeles have torched more urban area than any other fire in the state since at least the mid-1980s

The Eaton and Palisades fires that erupted last week have collectively burned almost 4 square miles of highly dense parts of Los Angeles, more than double the urban acreage consumed by the region's Woolsey fire in 2018,