2025 Wildfires Were the Costliest Ever, Researchers Say NYT | Top Stories Rebecca Dzombak 1 June 2026 at 07:01 Severe, hard-to-control blazes in densely populated areas like Los Angeles drove the year’s record losses. © Loren Elliott for The New York TimesPacific Palisades, Calif., on Jan. 7, 2025. Fires in the Los Angeles area last year burned least 90 square miles, killing at least 31 people and displacing more than 150,000.