How AccuWeather data is advancing children's healthcare after California fires

AccuWeather

Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles are using AccuWeather data to help improve care and study the impacts of the historic wildfires in January.

Transcript

00:00The AccuWeather 2025 U.S. wildfire forecast has been just released this morning.

00:06Our team of long-range experts, 7 to 9, expect 7 to 9 million acres of land to burn across the country this year.

00:15Now, that is, that forecast is above the historical average of roughly 7 million acres.

00:21AccuWeather's Bill Waddell was at the catastrophic wildfires that ripped through Southern California in January.

00:26He's back this morning in Altadena.

00:28Bill, those fires have had a major impact on the economy and on public health.

00:35Yeah, Ariella, Bernie, good morning. Absolutely.

00:38It's tough to see what this community looks like several months after those wildfires back in January.

00:44There are thousands of homes and businesses across Altadena that just look like this one,

00:49burned down to the ground, collapsed even to the basement in some cases.

00:54All of these buildings were destroyed by the fast-moving flames and embers that were carried by extreme wind gusts

01:01that reached 60 to 90 miles an hour back in January.

01:05Now, our nation has been hit incredibly hard with extreme weather disasters so far this year.

01:13AccuWeather experts estimate that the Los Angeles County wildfires here in January

01:17caused a total damage and economic loss estimated at $250 billion to $275 billion.

01:25And, of course, we also dealt with the tornado outbreaks and the flooding in the central U.S. just a few weeks ago.

01:33And earlier this year, we also dealt with a historic winter storm that brought freezing temperatures and snow

01:38to parts of the Gulf Coast and the southeast.

01:41Now, the January wildfires here in Southern California, the toxic smoke and the stress of warnings and evacuations

01:48had a major impact on public health.

01:51Homes, businesses, vehicles, batteries, and even plastics that burned in the fires

01:56released tons of toxic materials into the air, the ground, and likely even waterways that flow to the Pacific.

02:03Work is underway right now to haul out wildfire debris

02:06and clean up the hazardous mess left behind here in Altadena.

02:10AccuWeather launched a one-of-its-kind partnership with Children's Hospital Los Angeles last year.

02:15They're using AccuWeather air quality, weather, and environmental data

02:19to study the impacts that wildfire smoke and poor air quality are having on kids.

02:25Dr. Jonathan Tan says that data and collaboration made a big difference during the January wildfires,

02:31and it will be studied for years to come.

02:34I think this is a defining moment.

02:36I think the weather, as we all know, is changing, and the climate's changing, the environment's changing.

02:41And now, for the first time, we have access to information, to data, through this partnership.

02:47We've been taking the data about the weather, climate, environmental changes,

02:52and we're bringing that right into our hospital system so we can do research.

02:55That research will then drive clinical care.

02:58That will then drive policy and advocacy changes.

03:01No other children's hospital is doing this across the United States.

03:03The immediate and the long-term medical costs from injuries and exposure to wildfire smoke and unhealthy air quality,

03:12those are just a few of the many factors that are included in AccuWeather's preliminary estimate

03:17of $250 billion to $275 billion in total damage and economic loss from these wildfires.

03:26Now, Dr. Tan tells us that this project in collaboration with AccuWeather using our data

03:31not only is helping with the immediate health care during and after disasters, like the wildfires we saw here in January,

03:38but the proactive decisions to help families and preventative care,

03:42that can help minimize and reduce the long-term health care costs for these families,

03:48especially the kids exposed to these fires.

03:51Bernie and Ariella, this is really an incredible collaboration.

03:53We're proud to be a part of it with Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

03:57And it's going to be very interesting over the years and decades to come because, again,

04:01Dr. Tan says this is going to be the first case where we're going to see all of this real-time data

04:05and the impacts from children as they're young and what all of the impacts from these fires and the smoke are doing

04:10through their teenage and young adult years.

04:12And that number that you cited, the $250 to $275 billion in losses,

04:19not only the long-term health effects that you were just talking about,

04:23but I see you standing in front of rubble that was over three months ago.

04:29Is this fire still having an impact on the local economy some three months later?

04:37Local economy, absolutely.

04:39I've only seen a few people out here.

04:41There are folks that still live just a few blocks away from here.

04:43Their homes made it through the fire.

04:46And right next door, right across the street, they're dealing with this.

04:49So not nearly as much traffic as you would expect to see in the morning with people heading to work,

04:53obviously, because so many people lost their homes or their places of work.

04:57And there is an extensive cleanup and recovery operation underway.

05:01Of course, it's very expensive.

05:02We know that these fires are contributing to the insurance crisis in the United States.

05:07It's tougher to get insurance.

05:08It's costing families more money.

05:10Obviously, there's a ripple effect with local businesses.

05:12But I will say I have been impressed in some spots to see the recovery and progress already,

05:17where crews have already cleared the properties.

05:19They've been able to remove not just all of this debris,

05:22but they dig down in the soil to try and get out as much of the hazardous material as possible.

05:26That's in a few spots where they're making progress.

05:28But you can see here in Altadena, there are still months and years of work ahead.

05:32That's where they're often, but not in the soil.

05:35But I've been able to make, like, look at their crops and updates.

05:37But here's the only one of the reasons I want to be making progress.

05:37This is what I want to do is to leave here in the soil.

05:39Let's go to the place to the house.

05:40That's how I want to take care of it.

05:41That's how I want to take care of it.

05:42I want to take care of it.

05:43I've got to take care of it.

05:43I want to take care of it.

05:44So that I want to take care of it.

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