Energy

California aims to use computer modeling for wildfire risk assessment

It was one of several bills passed just before the legislature adjourned over the weekend.

Humberto Sanchez

12:03 PM, Sep 17, 2025

Democratic state Sen. Dave Cortese explains why he would not support a measure requiring parents to tell school officials if they keep guns in the house during a hearing of the Senate Education Committee in Sacramento, Calif., Wednesday, March 30, 2022. The bill, by Democratic state Sen. Anthony Portantino, failed passage in its first legislative committee. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

After wildfires caused as much as $54 billion in property damage in Los Angeles this year, California could become the first state to use computer modeling to project future wildfire damage. 

A bill authored by California Sen. Dave Cortese (D) that was passed late last week would establish the Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program to work with one or more universities to develop and deploy a public wildfire catastrophe model.

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