Overview
- In the 90 days after the January fires, Cedars-Sinai logged 46% more heart-attack visits and 24% more respiratory visits compared with the same period in prior years.
- The peer-reviewed analysis, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, examined ER data from a hospital roughly 10 miles from the Palisades burn zone and 20 miles from Altadena.
- Researchers also found a 118% rise in atypical blood test results, indicating widespread metabolic stress that affected multiple organ systems.
- Investigations throughout the year documented systemic response failures, including delayed evacuation orders in west Altadena linked to most local deaths, an offline Palisades reservoir, and hydrants that ran dry.
- Rebuilding remains slow with roughly 12%–13% of destroyed homes permitted by December, as questions persist over utility maintenance, extreme wind conditions, and toxic residues identified in burned-area soils.