California Stalled on Fire Safety Rules Ahead of LA Wildfires

As wildfires raged across Los Angeles in January, a state official parried an email from a resident living on the edge of the conflagration: When would long-delayed regulations designed to protect high-risk homes like hers be implemented?

“I do not have a timeline for you,” replied Edith Hannigan, then the executive officer of the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, the agency charged with drafting regulations requiring ember-resistant zones around homes. “I hope you and your loved ones are well during this fire siege.”

With climate-driven wildfires now capable of raining flaming embers down on far away neighborhoods, scientists say removing vegetation, ...