Heart attacks increased after Los Angeles wildfires, study finds

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai say rates of heart attack and respiratory illness ‘matched worst years of Covid’

In the first 90 days after the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires that destroyed entire Los Angeles neighborhoods, there was a 46% increase in ER visits for heart attack symptoms at LA’s Cedars-Sinai hospital, according to a newly released study.

“Rates of heart attacks in January 2025 actually surpassed heart attack rates during all the prior Januaries, even during the Covid years,” Dr Susan Cheng, director of public health research at Cedars-Sinai and the study’s senior author, told the Guardian.

This story was amended on 17 December 2025 to correct a misprint in the journal study. The was a 118% increase in blood-test abnormalities after the January wildfires.