The RAPID Facility has released a new 4-page data brief providing a comprehensive overview of high-resolution aerial imagery and 3D models collected from the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. This guide explains what makes the dataset unique, describes the three primary data products (orthomosaics, 3D point clouds, and digital surface models), and offers clear instructions for accessing the data through web-based tools and the NHERI DesignSafe Data Depot. The brief outlines how diverse users—from scientists and planners to educators and community members—can apply this building-level damage assessment data to wildfire risk reduction and community resilience work. Whether exploring the data for the first time or planning detailed analysis, this brief serves as an essential starting point for understanding this critical post-disaster dataset from the Palisades and Eaton Fire burn areas.

RAPID Facility Director Dr. Joseph Wartman published an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle titled "California mastered earthquake safety. Will it do the same for wildfires?" drawing on lessons from California's successful earthquake preparedness efforts to address critical gaps in wildfire mitigation. The piece contrasts the state's half-century investment in seismic safety—including permanent oversight bodies, mandatory retrofits, and public education—with the fragmented wildfire response revealed by the January 2025 Los Angeles fires after-action review. With losses from those fires exceeding $100 billion, the op-ed argues California faces the same choice it made 50 years ago for earthquakes: accept catastrophic losses as inevitable or take sustained action to prevent them. This analysis builds on RAPID Facility reconnaissance support efforts from the January fires.

Our 2025 NHERI RAPID 4-Day Intensive Hands-On Workshop was held on July 22-25. Congratulations to our new Advanced Users, who traveled to our University of Washington location in Seattle to get hands-on experience with our instrument portfolio.

See our training page for upcoming training opportunities with the RAPID Facility.