Hundreds more may have died in LA’s devastating fires in January than first reported, study finds
New study ties 440 more deaths to California wildfires
- New studies suggest recent wildfires in Los Angeles and Maui may have caused many more deaths than official counts indicate.
- A Finnish study published in an American Medical Association journal found 440 excess deaths in Los Angeles County during the January wildfires, attributing them to health conditions worsened by smoke and mental health issues.
- Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger has requested the county's Department of Public Health to thoroughly review the findings.
- Separate research on the 2023 Maui wildfire revealed indirect impacts, including lung damage, depression symptoms, and a 97 per cent increase in suicide and overdose deaths during the month of the fires.
- While the Maui study noted a broader increase in such deaths across Hawaiian counties, these elevated rates did not persist in subsequent months.