We Saw an Uptick in Conversations from California During the Wildfires
As news reports of the massive California wildfires spread in January 2025, we noticed a steep increase in conversations about wildfires and evacuations. Most of the conversations came in from California, but many texters were reaching out from other parts of the country. Here is what we observed.
We saw a notable uptick in Crisis Text Line traffic from LA County at the onset of the fires on January 8. We saw conversations from the county double compared to the average of the week before; conversations from California also increased by over 40%. As the week went on, we also saw higher than usual volume in the area overall: about 15% more conversations came in from LA in the first two weeks of January 2025 than in the same period in 2024.
The majority of texters from LA during the fires were people of color and adults based on our texter survey. Notably, half of the texters during this time period were Hispanic/Latino/LatinX, which is higher than what we normally see. Most LA texters were adults (18 years +), which is typical; a higher than usual number were older than 45, however.
“I am not in LA right now, but a lot of my neighborhood burned down” Anonymous texter
We saw a surge of conversations all over the United States mentioning the fires. To detect when texters mentioned these topics, we looked for specific words in our de-identified database using natural language processing (NLP). People were mostly texting in locally, worried about evacuation orders, anxious to make the right decision about leaving, or about losing their homes and valuables. Some people were reliving the trauma of past fires in the area; some expressed concern for friends, loved ones, and childhood homes from far away, while others in the U.S. were generally experiencing heavy sadness or grief for those affected.
Wildfires can have lasting mental health effects for affected communities. Crisis Text Line is always here to provide free, 24/7, confidential mental health support. Simply text HELLO or HOLA to 741741 to reach a live volunteer crisis counselor in English.
