Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster

by Jacob Soboroff

A "gripping, unshakeable firsthand account" (San Francisco Chronicle) of the firestorm that consumed Los Angeles, from the MS NOW reporter and New York Times bestselling author of Separated, who covered the fires on the ground as an LA native.

"Read[s] like a sci-fi thriller.” —Los Angeles Times

On the morning of January 7, 2025, a message pinged the phone of Jacob Soboroff, a national reporter for MS NOW. “Big Palisades fire. We are evacuating,” his brother texted within minutes of the blaze engulfing the hillside behind the home where he and his pregnant wife were living. “Really bad.” An attached photo showed a huge black plume rising from behind the house, an umbrella of smoke towering over everything they owned. Jacob rushed to the office of the bureau chief.
“I should go. I grew up in the Palisades.”
Soon he was on the front line of the blaze—his first live report of what would turn out to be weeks covering unimaginable destruction, from both the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, in Altadena. In the days to come, Soboroff appeared across the networks of NBC News as Los Angeles was ablaze, met with displaced residents and workers, and pressed Governor Gavin Newsom in an interview on Meet the Press. But no story Soboroff has covered at home or abroad—the trauma of family separation at the border, the displacement of the war in Ukraine, the collapse of order in Haiti—could have prepared him for reporting live as the hallmarks of his childhood were engulfed in flames around him while his hometown burned to the ground.
But for Soboroff, questions remained after the fires were what had he just witnessed? How could it have happened? Is it inevitable something like it will happen again? This set Soboroff off on months of reporting—with firefighters, fire victims, political leaders, academics, earth scientists, wildlife biologists, meteorologists and more—that made him keenly aware of how the misfortune of seeing his past carbonize was also a form of time travel into the dystopian world his children will inhabit. This is because the 2025 LA fires were not an isolated tragedy, but rather they are a harbinger—"the fire of the future," in the words of one senior emergency—management official.
Firestorm is the story of the costliest wildfire in American history, the people it affected and the deeply personal connection to one journalist covering it. It is a love letter to Los Angeles, a yearning to understand the fires, and why America’s new age of disaster we are living through portends that—without a reckoning of how Los Angeles burned—there is more yet, and worse, to come.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Environment

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 6, 2026

Reviews

[Traci Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was mixed here. This book has a bit of an identity crisis. Is it memoir or reporting? It’s at its best as memoir. Less clear when it’s reporting. I think it needed more time and stronger editorial pass to pull it all together. Soboroffs emotion, love of LA, and curiosity about people all come through super well. The politics stuff is less focused.

[Cory Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has so much potential, but it is clear it was rushed through the publication process to release it at the one year anniversary of the devastating fires. It would have benefited from at least one more round of drafting/editing. As is, I am not sure what the book is supposed to be. Is it a memoir? Is it reporting? I think it shines in parts that read more like a memoir. The author’s love for his hometown is evident and I would have enjoyed this more if he stayed in that space.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A personal account from ground level of the Palisades fires of 2024 by a journalist who grew up in the neighborhoods.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Mariner Books for sharing this ARC. I seem to have a fascination with fire stories, whether it’s a voyeuristic trait I have or general interest in natural disasters, I’m not sure, but I’ve read quite a few similarly themed books. Given that, this upcoming book on the 2025 California fires had something special. Beyond just a recitation of the facts and numbers and play by play of how the days unfolded, there was a true heart to the author’s approach. Because he is from Pacific Palisades, the real emotion of losing his childhood home and town really came through. I found myself choked up with emotion at times and could easily imagine my own sadness and shock in a similar situation. So I found this a cut above the usual, and would recommend it.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

January 2025 saw something like fourteen wildfires in total in the state of California. Some of these fires burned for approximately thirty days! Two of the fires were talked about more than the others, the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire. The destruction and devastation caused by these fires ranks high on the list of the most destructive fires that California has ever seen. One of the fires was deliberately set by an arsonist, and subsequent fires were a result of rekindling of that fire with contributing factors like drought and the Santa Ana Winds.

These fires raised many questions about the need for improved infrastructure and resources and also raised questions about the competency of the federal government. DT is known for his late-night rants on social media where he screams in caps lock about things he has no idea about. His echo chamber of followers repost and repeat, all of them talking out the side of their necks and trying their best to call everyone names and create conspiracy theories. The lack of useful federal government plans, assistance, and input is alarming. In recent months, it has grown more alarming. There were a lot of allegations out about the fighting of these fires (of which the "leaders" of this country know nothing about), the water (which simply could not keep up with the amount of things burning and spraying into hurricane force winds), the fire engines (which did need routine maintenance and upgrades), the grounding of air support (hurricane force winds) and other things. Someone who is not a follower of a cult or invested in a political party can use their common sense to see that there were certainly issues and challenges in fighting fourteen fires for a month straight. Not everything is a conspiracy. People really need to cut the shit. People lost homes, businesses, and lives.

I forgot that I pre-ordered this book on Audible. I got the notification today and listened to it while I was at work. It was about a six hour long listen. The narration was good. The content was a mixture of enthralling, factual, educational, and enraging. I had just finished a book about Qanon this morning that I will be reviewing next, and I have to say the misinformation and disinformation spewed forth by DT and his minions was more tiresome than usual. I found some of his comments especially grating and offensive, as I grew up in a family of firemen and first responders. (It is equally grating that they support this man and have subscribed to this conspiratorial way of thinking when this group shits on their profession, but I DIGRESS.) I thought the author of this book was well spoken and I appreciated the reporting of facts instead of heading down a conspiracy rabbit hole.

[Ula Tardigrade · Rating 3 out of 5]

A detailed account of the latest of a series of devastating fires that occurred in North America in recent years, written by a journalist who was raised in Palisades. He touchingly describes the surreal experience of reporting on the destruction of his own neighborhood. If you want to know more about this particular fire, that’s a book for you. However, it does not provide much more context about wildfires in general, which to me was a bit disappointing.

Thanks to the publisher, Mariner Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

[Katie N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, fantastic book.
My only complaint is after also reading separated, I notice he does this thing where he introduces a topic/fact/person and then chapters later, reintroduces it as though the audience forgot? A bit frustrating/unnecessary to be repeated to.
I also wish there was a little more focus on global warming and how this is going to become a more common issue as we have severe weather patterns and hotter summers with drier brush.
As an Angelino, you could tell how much these fires affected him as they did all of us!

[Katarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Audiobook via Audible*

Wow. Jacob Soboroff has done it again. With excellent, emotional and straightforward reporting, recall, interviews and descriptions that bring us viewers and readers along with him as he recalls experiencing his hometown burn while reporting on live TV - as well as doing a post-mortem of the fire and looking at all the compounding issues and factors that went into it. His interviews and timelines received by those who responded to the fire and those who oversee/saw policy and emergency response give such a well rounded telling of what took place in LA a year ago.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacob Soboroff offers a minute-by-minute accounting of the fires, sharing his own direct experience as a resident of the Palisades. Also included are accounts of several first responders and local community members. A sub plot demonstrates how politics becomes a distraction from the real danger faced by the people of Los Angeles during this terrible disaster.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An accounting of the LA fires. when the book focused on the fires and the weather conditions impacting the fires,it was compelling. Less compelling when Soboroff focused on his reporting of the fires.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in one gulp today, exactly one year after the fires began. Vulnerable and detailed as only a journalist with a personal connection could write it.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m sure the devastating fires in California last year are remembered as horrifying pictures were shown on the news programs of burning homes, businesses and mountainsides. One reporter who was in the middle of the conflagration was MSNBC’s, Jacob Soboroff, and this is his story.

This is not a cold, factual account of the horrific events, but a story told from the heart. Jacob grew up in the area of the fires, still lives there with members of his family. All the places hold a special memory and to see the destruction the fires caused affected him deeply. This is the writing that will draw you in with emotional resonance that will linger with you long after the book is finished.

I urge you to read this book and learn what everyday people faced with unimaginable courage as their lives were suddenly and viciously destroyed by fire.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so informative and so well written. It really gives a detail look at what happened during the flyers at the beginning of 2025. The news is always over saturated with stories so I never felt like I knew the full story until this book. I loved the authors words on how he’s personally affected by the fires, but I really liked his style of writing about everything. This book looks at all sides of what happened, including things that are positive and things that were very negative during that time, especially given the political situation our country was in. An absolute must read to educate yourself. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.