Wildfire evacuation triggered long-term mental health impacts for LA residents

Los Angeles County residents living in evacuation warning or order zones during the 2025 wildfires experienced heightened levels of anxiety and depression almost a year later, according to new USC research. The effects were greatest among those already facing social and economic hardship.

The January 2025 wildfires were some of the most devastating in California history, killing at least 31 people, forcing more than 200,000 residents to evacuate and causing tens of billions of dollars in damage. The fires also heightened concerns about deepening inequality in the region, with their greatest impacts in two starkly different communities: the Pacific Palisades, a predominately white and wealthy neighborhood, and Altadena, a predominately Black neighborhood with people from a range of income levels.

In a long-term study of mental health in the region, USC researchers found that Angelenos who lived in areas ordered to evacuate or prepare to evacuate experienced a 12% greater increase in self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression in the following months, compared with Angelenos who lived elsewhere. The increase was concentrated among residents who live in low-income households, struggle with housing costs, have pre-existing mental health challenges or have limited access to recovery support such as temporary housing or financial assistance.

While white, higher-income and college-educated residents were more likely to live in an evacuation zone, residents with precarious social, financial, or housing situations experienced disproportionately greater psychological impacts from the fires.

A growing body of research on wildfires points to potentially severe long-term mental health consequences, including elevated rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide. The new study findings suggest that policies to bolster housing security and community support networks, such as local nonprofits and volunteer groups, could help reduce the mental health impacts of wildfires.

As cities and suburbs prepare for the growing risk of wildfires, mental health must be a critical component of their planning. Ensuring that disadvantaged populations have access to essential supports like housing or transportation can improve community resilience."

Kyla Thomas, lead author, research scientist with the Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) at the USC Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service

The study, published July 29 in JAMA Network Open, analyzed data from 1,510 L.A. County residents participating in the LABarometer survey, which is maintained by CESR and has tracked social and economic conditions in the region since 2019. Researchers examined monthly self-reported data on anxiety and depression symptoms from the year before and after the wildfires, along with a pre-fire survey on livability and affordability issues and a survey on wildfire housing impacts conducted immediately after the fires were contained. They linked participants' responses with neighborhood data to measure how close they lived to an evacuation zone.

Previous studies on wildfires' mental health impacts have typically measured psychological distress in the aftermath of a wildfire disaster. By continuously tracking individuals over an extensive period before and after the wildfires, the study provides stronger evidence that the fires were responsible for worsening mental health symptoms.