The January 2025 California wildfires wreaked havoc and devastation throughout the Los Angeles area, leaving behind a path of destruction spanning 57,000 acres and destroying over 18,000 homes. More than 200,000 residents were ordered to evacuate their homes, and many did not return.
Families were displaced, with some having to surrender their pets if no pet-friendly housing was available. While the news coverage painted a vivid picture, no one can fully comprehend the experience unless they’ve lived through it.
The uncertainty surrounding the wildfires was twofold for patients with a cancer diagnosis: Whether they would have a home to return to and how they would receive treatment. Amid the disastrous situation, the efforts of oncologists like Karen L. Reckamp, MD, MS, were essential in ensuring that patients with cancer could access the treatment they needed.
Dr. Reckamp, Director of the Division of Medical Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, detailed the challenges faced by both patients and healthcare professionals, as well as how oncology teams adapted during the crisis.
“In that moment on the first day when the fires began and the news was coming out, there were already people being affected,” said Dr. Reckamp. “And their concern, understandably, is getting to their cancer treatment while leaving behind something that they may never go back to.”
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was initially far enough from the fires to operate as usual, according to Dr. Reckamp. However, over the course of several days, persistent winds caused additional fires to break out closer to the hospital. Due to the elevated risk, elective procedures were temporarily canceled.
“This affects our patients with lung cancer in a major way because there may be people waiting for biopsies and other non-life-saving procedures,” said Dr. Reckamp. “Fortunately, the interruption was only for one day, but if we were closer that might have had a bigger effect.”
Dr. Reckamp recalled how the team at Cedars-Sinai utilized its resources and personally checked in on patients to ensure they had found shelter and if they were still able to come in for treatment.
“We reached out to people in affected zip codes to see where they were and whether they planned to make changes to their treatment plans,” said Dr. Reckamp. “We’re fortunate to have our social work team and other resources that can help our clinical team in ensuring that our patients are doing well throughout their treatment.”
This collaborative effort helped overcome a critical challenge faced by patients undergoing cancer treatment during this crisis. At the same time, caring for these patients helped provide stability for physicians who were also grappling with uncertainty.
“There were physicians who also dealt with losing everything and the grief that you have to manage,” she said. “Not just the physical loss, but the logistical operational pieces, dealing with insurance and adjusters, cleaning up the damage, and sifting through your life while continuing to care for patients.”
Cedars-Sinai also extended support to its staff members who were dealing with losses of their own, including helping them find housing and sharing resources to help navigate insurance. Additionally, Dr. Reckamp noted that even smaller gestures, such as simply reaching out to a colleague, can have a tremendous impact.
“We held our regular educational meetings, but they were also therapeutic as we took the time to understand where people were at and what they were worried about. So, I think there was a lot more connection in those types of ways.”
The level of incoming support extended from beyond Los Angeles, according to Dr. Reckamp.
“Many people reached out to me personally from across the world because the IASLC has built these international relationships,” she said. “Many people who don’t even live in Los Angeles felt helpless about what was going on. And knowing that we’re interconnected does help to move through these difficult times.”
Climate change is not a localized threat, just as wildfires are not exclusive to California. The 2023 Maui wildfires and the recent ones reported in North and South Carolina are just a few reminders of the growing crisis. A growing number of wildfires have been reported in the United States across the Southeast, as of March 10, 2025, with some reaching as far into the Northeast as Massachusetts.
This surge in wildfires isn’t isolated to the United States and reflects a much broader trend. From South America to Australia, rising temperatures and dry conditions are fueling wildfires across the globe.
Being prepared for disasters such as wildfires is undoubtedly important; however, we must also acknowledge the elephant in the room: Climate change. Warmer temperatures and shifting wind patterns will only continue to intensify the strength and damage of climate-related disasters.
The consequences will be even more detrimental for patients with lung cancer, who rely on consistent medical care and are more vulnerable to environmental toxins. Furthermore, studies have shown that patients recovering from lung cancer surgery experienced a longer post-operative length of stay if their facility was impacted by a wildfire, compared with patients treated at the same facility during non-disaster periods (9.4 days vs. 7.5 days, respectively).1
As Los Angeles begins picking up the pieces, it is essential to learn from the lessons of this disaster to move forward and be able to support patients and healthcare providers in future crises.
“What we must remember is that, although the immediate dangers are gone, the rebuilding process is years in the making and the grief process for people who have lost and are going through a cancer diagnosis, shouldn’t be ignored and shouldn’t be forgotten,” said Dr. Reckamp.
If you or a loved one are experiencing grief following the LA wildfires, you can find a list of local virtual and in-person support groups, along with other community resources, on the OUR HOUSE website. Additionally, CancerCare’s California Wildfires Patient Assistance Program has emotional and financial support resources available for patients with cancer and their loved ones.
Related ILCN Articles on Climate Change:
- Healthcare Community Can Still Take Action to Combat Effects of Climate Change
- Where There’s Smoke: The Global Threat of Lung Cancer in Patients with No Smoking History and its Implications in Screening
- Climate Change Increasingly Exposes Communities, Healthcare Systems to Unpredictable Circumstances
References
- 1. Leticia M Nogueira, K Robin Yabroff, Elizabeth Yates, James M Shultz, R Burciaga Valdez, Amruta Nori-Sarma, Facility exposure to wildfire disasters and hospital length of stay following lung cancer surgery, JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2025;, djaf040, https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djaf040
