ABOUT PHEER
The Public Health Extreme Events Research (PHEER) network serves as the coordinating platform for the public health disaster research community of practice. PHEER advances the field of public health disaster science by supporting and coordinating a community of practice that can mobilize rapidly to conduct time sensitive disaster investigations, and builds the capacity of the current and future public health disaster research workforce through training, experiential learning, and mentorship.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES PHEER ACTIVATION
The January 2025 Southern California wildfires burned from January 7, 2025 to January 31, 2025, impacting people in San Diego and Los Angeles Counties. Two specific fires, Palisades and Eaton, killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures. More than 150,000 individuals evacuated after the first week alone, and millions of individuals lost power due to fire damage and public safety power shutoffs. The Palisades and Eaton fires alone caused the most material damage by an extreme weather event in US history, suggesting that the human health impacts will be significant and persistent.
In response to the 2025 Southern California wildfires, the PiR2 Lab developed Situational Reports, providing a concise summary of the 2025 wildfires to ensure researchers have the latest information, allowing for a coordinated and informed response.
The PHEER mobilized to serve as a coordinating platform for the public health disaster research community of practice. The PHEER network developed an environmental exposure web map, freely available to the research, practice, and policy communities, that is designed to illustrate the location and type of environmental assessments conducted by public and academic research teams and to curate the data collected by researchers where possible.
