Though many Los Angeles-area parks and museums closed because of air quality or other concerns, several have reopened, including Griffith Park, the L.A. Zoo and Autry Museum of the American West.

In the era when American cities regularly caught fire, the widespread destruction seeded what looks, in retrospect, like possibility.

As Los Angeles reels from the loss of lives and homes to the Easton and Palisades fires, scientists are asking why the events of this January have been so catastrophic.