The Brief

As California faces increasingly destructive wildfires, schools should develop more preventative safety measures, experts say.

Roughly 12.6% of California public school students attend a campus located in high or very high Fire Hazard Severity Zones, an EdSource analysis of data from Cal Fire and the Office of the State Fire Marshal found. Those are often home to dry vegetation, steep slopes and dry, windy weather.

Even more schools, 13.7% – 1,459 of the 10,591 public schools across the state — are located in or close to a Fire Hazard Severity Zone, a classification that reflects general wildfire behavior in the region, and is different from fire risk, which gauges the likelihood of a fire sparking under a specific set of conditions.

Fire risk spans the entire state, from rural to urban areas and from north to south. But nearly 70% of students in high and very high fire hazard severity zones are in Southern California, where urban density meets fire-prone conditions.

Most are located in either Southern California or near the Bay Area. Many, however, are dotted along the Central Coast and lie in the state’s Central Valley.

“Part of it is that those areas are denser [in population],” said Nicole Lambrou, an assistant professor of urban and regional planning at Cal Poly Pomona. “But I also think the bigger issue might be that there has been increasing development in the wildland-urban interface, which is more fire-prone. Land development patterns, driven also by increasing housing costs within … L.A. and the Bay Area, make development in formerly undeveloped [wildland-urban interface] areas more feasible as well as more desirable.”

With fires of serious magnitude becoming increasingly common, particularly in populous regions like Los Angeles County, experts say it’s time for schools to develop proper safety plans — and if possible, make their physical campuses more resilient against future blazes.

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Data source: Cal Fire, the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) and EdSource data analysis

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“Los Angeles, historically, was a pretty dry area. And through the decades and centuries, we’re now an urban community that had not experienced wildfires like this, like the Eaton and the Palisades fires, especially at the same time,” said Jema Estrella, the director of facilities and construction at the Los Angeles County Office of Education, in an interview with EdSource. “Because we are seeing these events more regularly, then we have to look at these lessons, and we have to consider what are the actions that we have to take on?”

In the 2018 Camp Fire, four schools were destroyed and nine had extensive damage. This year, the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County damaged or destroyed nine public and charter schools.

Physical infrastructure 

Hardening campuses — a process that makes physical school buildings and the landscaping around them less prone to fire damage — is one step schools and districts should consider if they’re presented with an opportunity to rebuild or revamp their current infrastructure, experts say.

“We have facilities that are brand new, that have all of these elements embedded,” Estrella said, referring to campuses across L.A. County. “We also have schools that are in older facilities, and that may not necessarily be so easily upgraded.”

Schools can use money from Proposition 2, passed by voters in 2024, for fire safety improvements. The measure authorized the State Allocation Board to help with disaster assistance.

Additionally, “school facility projects funded by Proposition 2 must meet applicable building code requirements reviewed by the Division of the State Architect for structural safety, fire life safety, and accessibility,” added a spokesperson from the Office of Public School Construction. “School facility design and material choices beyond building code requirements are determined at the local level by individual school districts and are typically considered eligible expenditures for Proposition 2 funding.”

To harden a campus, schools should consider certain non-combustible materials, including in their roofing, Estrella said. Dual-pane windows, she added, can also help prevent embers from flying into the building.

Beyond buildings, Estrella stressed that school grounds should be clear of vegetation or any highly flammable materials. Trimming trees and maintaining landscaping are critical to making sure foliage stays green and less susceptible to fire damage, she said.

Lambrou, the professor at Cal Poly Pomona, also said schools should consider designing “clustered campuses” — home to multiple buildings and, naturally, fire breaks between them.

Within campuses, experts have also stressed the importance of having proper air filters to preserve air quality and keep students and staff as healthy as possible.

“It’s also important afterwards, when there’s all this kind of debris filtering, and processing that’s happening that can stir up a lot of things,” Lambrou said. “During that time, kids tend to go back to school if the school is still standing, so having filtration is super important.”

Communication and planning 

When the Eaton Fire set Altadena ablaze on Jan. 7, residents in certain areas did not receive evacuation notices — or received them late. While schools don’t play an active role in community evacuations, experts say adequate planning by school districts is paramount to everyone’s collective safety.

Some county offices of education, including San Diego’s, have strongly encouraged schools to spell out a wildfire response in their comprehensive school safety plan — even though the California Department of Education doesn’t explicitly mandate it, according to Tracy Schmidt, the senior director of attendance, safety and student engagement for the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE).

The agency has also provided local schools and districts with a template that they can customize to their needs.

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Courtesy Tracy Schmidt

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“When should you consider moving outdoor activities indoors? When do you potentially need to consider a closure … not due to the threat of a fire, but due to air quality?” Schmidt said. “So, it has those types of indicators and conditions. And then, how would they communicate this type of information to their community?”

Beyond planning, Schmidt also emphasized the importance of training for local educational agencies — something SDCOE has been participating in with the help of Cal Fire, the American Red Cross and the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services.

Lambrou said in the event of a wildfire, communication is also essential, particularly when it comes to potential evacuations and reunification of parents with their children.

“My daughter’s school burned down in the Eaton Fire, and we’re so lucky that the fire took place in the evening, that the kids were not in school because they were really high up there … pretty close to the foothills. It would have been nearly impossible to get to her,” Lambrou said, reflecting on her own journey during the January fires in Los Angeles.

On a broader level, “communication did not take place. It was very confusing for a lot of people,” she added. “Residents had that same issue, and they had to rely on each other.”

EdSource data reporter Daniel J. Willis contributed to this report.

As Los Angeles homeowners grapple with the expense of rebuilding after last year’s devastating fires, an L.A. City Councilmember is putting forward an idea that could lower some costs.

Councilmember Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, has introduced a motion to explore waiving part of the city’s portion of the local sales tax for fire victims who purchase rebuilding materials in the city.

The 1% of the local 9.75% sales tax that goes into the city’s general fund would be given back to consumers under the proposal. The waiver could apply to lumber, appliances and other rebuilding goods purchased within the city.

The motion, introduced Friday by Park and seconded by Councilmember John Lee, says: “The City should do everything within its power to alleviate the financial burden for these residents and businesses in order to facilitate their return and stabilize the Pacific Palisades community.”

Would it make much of a difference? 

Economists told LAist the proposal could help many homeowners mitigate the high cost of rebuilding, but likely wouldn’t tip the scales for under-insured, under-resourced property owners.

“It wouldn't hurt if it's very well designed and easy to use,” said Alexander Meeks, a director at the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. “But I'm not sure if it's really going to tackle the scale of the financial challenge that survivors are facing.”

Meeks noted that the tax waiver wouldn’t lower up-front costs such as environmental testing, architectural design and permitting. And it may not help homeowners sourcing raw materials from outside the city.

Zhiyun Li, a UCLA Anderson School of Management economist, said the waiver could help some homeowners justify the additional cost of rebuilding more fire-safe structures.

“Homeowners must typically pay out of pocket to upgrade to IBHS+ standards, which are more stringent,” Li said. “The tax waiver could encourage upgrading to IBHS+ standards or investing more in mitigation, thereby reducing future risk and improving the likelihood of maintaining insurance coverage.”

What’s next for the proposal? 

The proposed tax relief would not be available to properties that have been sold since the fires started in January 2025.

The motion has been sent to the City Council’s budget and fire recovery committees. If approved by the full council, it would require the city administrative officer, the Office of Finance and the city attorney to report back to the council within 60 days on options for crafting a tax relief plan.

The motion calls for the report to consider factors such as how to minimize the burden of administering the tax relief, what documentation homeowners would have to submit and what it would cost the city to oversee the program.

Senate and House Republican leadership have resurrected a stalled plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security after a record 47-day funding lapse.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said in a joint statement on Wednesday that the House will take up a measure passed by the Senate last week to fund most of DHS except Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of September.

Republicans would then attempt to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years using a party-line budget reconciliation bill that would not require support from Democrats.

"In following this two-track approach, the Republican Congress will fully reopen the Department, make sure all federal workers are paid, and specifically fund immigration enforcement and border security for the next three years so that those law-enforcement activities can continue uninhibited," Thune and Johnson wrote.

The agreement comes nearly a week after House Republicans dismissed an identical plan, refusing to take up the Senate-passed measure and instead passing a 60-day short term funding bill for all of DHS that had little chance of overcoming Democratic opposition in the Senate.

Johnson called the agreement a "joke" and President Donald Trump declined to publicly endorse the deal. Trump had previously resisted any package that did not include his push to overhaul federal elections known as the Save America Act.

"I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it," Trump told reporters last week.

Democrats welcomed the agreement as in line with their pledge not to give ICE any more money without reforms after immigration enforcement agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. But the deal does not include any of the policy demands Democrats are pressing for, such as a ban on masks for immigration enforcement officers and requiring warrants issued by a judge, not just the agency, to enter homes.

"For days, Republican divisions derailed a bipartisan agreement, making American families pay the price for their dysfunction," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a statement Wednesday. "Throughout this fight, Senate Democrats never wavered."

Trump seemed to bless the revived plan earlier Wednesday, writing on social media that he wants a party-line bill to fund immigration enforcement on his desk by June 1.

"We are going to work as fast, and as focused, as possible to replenish funding for our Border and ICE Agents, and the Radical Left Democrats won't be able to stop us," Trump wrote.

Despite the shutdown, ICE has been minimally impacted because Republican lawmakers approved $75 billion for ICE through another party-line budget reconciliation bill last year.

Congress is on a two-week recess, but the Senate and House could move to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP as early as Thursday using a procedure known as unanimous consent that allows the chambers to circumvent formal voting as long as no member objects.

Even during a recess when most members are not in Washington, this could be unpredictable, especially in the House, where many hard-line conservatives oppose a deal that does not fully fund DHS.

"Let's make this simple: caving to Democrats and not paying CBP and ICE is agreeing to defund Law Enforcement and leaving our borders wide open again," Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, wrote on X. "If that's the vote, I'm a NO."

If a member does object, that could require waiting for another vote when all members are back from recess.

Claudia Grisales contributed reporting.
Copyright 2026 NPR

California clocked its second-worst snowpack on record Wednesday, a potentially troubling signal ahead for fire season.

It’s an alarming end to a winter that saw abnormally dry conditions briefly wiped from California’s drought map in January, for the first time in a quarter-century.

Though precipitation to date has been near average, much of it fell as rain rather than snow. Then March’s record-breaking heat melted most of the snow that remains. The state’s major reservoirs are nevertheless brimming above historic averages and are flirting with capacity, and a smattering of snow, rain and thunderstorms are dousing last month’s heat wave.

But experts now warn that California’s case of the missing snowpack could herald an early fire season in the mountains.

On Wednesday, state engineers conducting the symbolic April 1 snowpack measurement at Phillips Station south of Lake Tahoe found no measurable snow in patches of white dotting the grassy field.

“I want to welcome you call to probably one of the quickest snow surveys we’ve had — maybe one where people could actually use an umbrella,” joked Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources. “We’re getting a lot of questions about are we heading into a hydrologic drought? The answer is, I don’t know.”

State data reports that California’s snowpack is closing out the season at an alarming 18% of average statewide, and an even more abysmal 6% of average in the northern mountains that feed California’s major reservoirs.

Only the extreme drought year of 2015 beat this year’s snowpack for the worst on record, measuring in at just 5% of average on April 1st, when the snow historically is at its deepest.

“I think everyone's anticipating that it will be a long, busy fire season,” said Lenya Quinn-Davidson, director of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network.

“Without a snowpack, and with an early spring, it just means that there’s much more time for something like that to happen.”

‘It’s pretty bizarre up here’ 

In the city of South Lake Tahoe, which survived the massive Caldor Fire in the fall of 2021 without losing any structures, fire chief Jim Drennan said his department is already ramping up prevention efforts.

“It's pretty bizarre up here right now. It really seems like June conditions more than March,” Drennan said. “People are already turning the sprinklers on for their lawns.”

Without more precipitation, an early spring may complicate prescribed burning efforts. But Drennan said fire agencies in the Tahoe basin can start mechanically clearing fuels from forest areas earlier than usual.

“That means we can get more work done,” he said.

It also means homeowners need to start hardening their homes now, said Martin Goldberg, battalion chief and fuels management officer for the Lake Valley Fire Protection District, which protects unincorporated communities in the Lake Tahoe Basin’s south shore.

Goldberg urges residents to scour their yards for burnable materials, create defensible space and reach out to local fire departments with questions. The risks are widespread — from firewood, wooden fences, gas cans, plants, pine needles — even lawn furniture stacked against a house.

“In years past, I wouldn't even think of raking and clearing until May,” Goldberg said. “But my yard's completely cleared of snowpack, and it has been for a couple weeks now.”

‘A haystack fire’

Battalion chief David Acuña, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said fire season is shaped by more than just one year’s snowpack.

Climate change has been remaking California’s fire seasons into fire years. And California’s recent average to abundant water years have fueled what Acuña called “bumper crops of vegetation and brush.”

“Most of California is like a haystack. And if you’ve ever seen a haystack fire, they burn very intensely because there's layers of fuel,” Acuña said.

Like Quinn-Davidson, Acuña wasn’t ready to make specific predictions about fires to come.

But John Abatzoglou, a professor of climatology at UC Merced, said the temperatures and snowpack conditions this year offer a glimpse of California in the latter decades of this century, as fossil fuel use continues to drive global temperatures higher.

How this year’s fires will play out will depend on when, where and how wind, heat, fuel and ignitions combine. But it foreshadows the consequences of a warmer California for water and fire under climate change.

“This,” Abatzoglou said, “is yet another stress test for the future in the state.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.