New studies tie unrecognized deaths and health problems to Maui and LA
wildfires
[August 07, 2025]
By MIKE STOBBE
NEW YORK (AP) — The toll of wildfires is usually counted in acres burnt,
property destroyed and lives lost to smoke and flames. But three studies
published Wednesday suggest the cost to human health from the Maui and
Los Angeles wildfires was substantially higher.
Two of the papers explore what happened after the Hawaii fire in August
2023 — one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in a century. A third looks
at the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year.
The Maui fire was directly blamed for more than 100 deaths. But it also
left 1 in 5 with lung damage and as many as half with symptoms of
depression, the new research found. The month of the fire saw 13 suicide
and overdose deaths, translating to nearly double the normal suicide and
overdose death rates.
The study of the Los Angeles fires concluded that in addition to at
least 30 deaths attributed to the fire, more than 400 other deaths could
be blamed on the event, due to interruptions in health care and other
factors.
The studies, published in two American Medical Association journals, add
"a really important piece to the understanding of the true health risks
from these extreme climatic events,” said Dr. Jonathan Patz, a
University of Wisconsin environmental public health researcher who was
not involved in the papers.
The results conform with existing understanding of the effects of
extreme weather events, some experts said.
How to track the indirect impacts of disastrous events has been a
continuing subject of academic research and even legislative proposals.
There have been estimates of deaths caused by extreme heat, as well as
research into the large-scale toll of wildfires driven by climate
change.
“But this hones in, especially on (specific) fires,” Patz said.
One of the studies, co-led by Ruben Juarez of the University of Hawaii,
looked at more than 1,100 adults six to 14 months after the Maui fire.
It found lower lung function in people in areas close to the fire
compared with those in lower-exposure areas. Overall, about 22% had
below-normal lung function.
“It’s a stark reminder that wildfires can leave an invisible but lasting
scar on respiratory health, long after the flames are gone,” Juarez
said, in an email, noting that this Friday marks the two-year
anniversary of the fire.
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|
 Patz called the finding “an
important new contribution.”
Kristie Ebi of the University of Washington echoed that, noting that
there is a growing understanding that wildfire smoke can be more
toxic than standard air pollution.
“It’s not just leaves and branches and trees” that are burned, she
said. “It’s buildings. It’s gasoline stations. It’s old houses that
have asbestos in them. It’s automobiles. There are lots of
components of wildfire smoke.”
She said the study suggests “this toxicity is affecting people's
long-term lung function.”
Of course, the researchers don't know exactly how much smoke each
person was exposed to, and other studies would need to be done to
explore cause-and-effect, she added.
The study also found 40% saying their health had declined since the
fires, with close to half talking about increased fatigue and
weakness, eye irritation and lung-related symptoms.
Jonathan Purtle of New York University was the lead author of
another study, which calculated rates of suicide and overdose deaths
in Maui and Hawaii's four other counties. That research team found a
97% increase in suicides and overdose death rates on Maui during the
month of the wildfires. The total number of suicide and overdose
deaths was 13 that month — most of them suicides. That's a
significant increase, Ebi said.
They also found a 46% increase in such deaths in all five counties,
which may have been influenced by displaced Maui residents migrating
to other islands, the authors said.
The increases did not last: Rates fells in the following months, the
researchers found.
The third study was led by researchers in Finland. They used
mathematical modeling to estimate that there were 440 more deaths in
Los Angeles County from Jan. 5 to Feb. 1 than what would normally
have been expected, and said those are related to the fires.
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