COLUMBIA, Md. — UL Research Institutes’ Fire Safety Research Institute has released the “Southern California Fires Incident Analysis Report,” which was done at the request of the Office of the Governor of California following the devastating Southern California fires of January 2025.
The fires, including the Palisades and Eaton Fires, occurred under extreme wildfire conditions marked by powerful Santa Ana winds, critically dry vegetation and rapid fire spread from vegetation into the built environment, becoming among the most deadly, destructive and costly wildfire disasters in California history.
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UL Research Institutes conducted an extensive data collection effort, building on a similar approach used in its analysis of the 2023 Lahaina Fire, to establish a timeline and fact base around the fires.
Palisades Fire Progression, Response & Evacuation
The new report builds on the timeline report, examining the conditions, decisions, actions and systems that influenced the wildfires and resulting community conflagrations before and during the disaster. It covers emergency preparedness and management, water and electric utilities, weather and vegetation, evacuation warnings and orders, transportation, fire and law enforcement actions and policies, fatalities, and built environment factors. The report identifies 175 findings and offers 266 recommendations aimed at improving resilience, preparedness and response.
The analysis found wildfire and community conflagration outcomes were shaped by the combined performance of numerous interconnected systems rather than a single point of failure. Before the fires, California and local agencies had implemented a range of risk reduction and preparedness measures, including defensible space programs, vegetation management, public preparedness efforts, evacuation planning and notification systems, mutual aid frameworks and firefighting resources.
Eaton Fire Progression, Response & Evacuation
Read the full list of findings and recommendations in the report below.
