Los Angeles residents experienced significant increases in cardiopulmonary illness in the three months following the historic Eaton and Palisades wildfires that took place in January 2025, according to a study published in JACC.

Researchers examined data on emergency encounters at Cedars-Sinai within 90 days after the fires and compared that data with the same period of time over the six years prior (2018-2024). Cedars-Sinai is the largest adult acute care medical center in Los Angeles County and located within 20 miles from where the fires originated.

Overall findings showed a 24% excess in acute pulmonary illness and a 46% excess in acute myocardial infarction. Additionally, an 118% excess in systemic illness requiring emergency attention was observed. According to the authors, this increase in systemic health effects presented a “substantial excess in emergency encounters for blood chemistry laboratory abnormalities – a finding not described previously after major wildfires.”

“Overall, our findings underscore the need for additional studies to discern longer-term risks and to more completely understand the health impacts of wildland-urban fires,” write Joseph E. Ebinger, MD, MS; Tzu Yu Huang, MD, et al.