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

by Jacob Soboroff

From the NBC News correspondent and New York Times bestselling author of Separated, a gripping and revelatory account of the devastating 2025 Los Angeles fires, which he covered on the ground as an LA native. 

On the morning of January 7, 2025, a message pinged the phone of Jacob Soboroff, a national correspondent for NBC News. “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 Palisades fire—his first live report of what would turn out to be weeks covering unimaginable destruction, from the Palisades to 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 natural disaster 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, Environment, Audiobook, Science, Nature, Climate Change

272 pages, Hardcover

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.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the book was interesting in a reporting on the ground way, the political commentary and the way the author glorified Newsome and Biden and took every opportunity to make a diss at Trump, felt extremely out of place if the goal of the book was to tell about the events of the few days he was on the ground. I could tell what the tone of the book would be when the author introduced himself as an MSNBC reporter and told about his previous book (gag). Anyway, it’s clear this book was commissioned to begin the propagandized history to be recorded of the fires in California in 2025.

[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.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written and absorbing book about the horrific fires that devastated Los Angeles in January 2025. Jacob Soboroff was an NBC/MSNBC correspondent who grew up in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. (He’s currently with MS NOW) I remember watching his compelling reports as the fires started and spread. He absolutely humanized what was happening to the city he loved. This is also the story of the fire departments that were tasked with the Herculean and Sisyphean job of fighting and containing these fires, how the gale force winds spread them and the devastation they caused.

The epilogue is a must read (as is the whole book) as it recounts the political ramifications of trying to get aid in the new DJT era, the environmental causes of the fires and how current policies are impacting prevention and recovery: from dismantling government agencies that are tasked with monitoring and providing aid to areas hit by environmental disasters to the mass deportation of day laborers who are vital to the cleanup and rebuilding of Los Angeles. (Whew! That was one long sentence!)

There is an interesting story in the book of how Stephen Miller’s wife Katie reached out to Jacob to ask him to check on SM’s parents’ home to see if it was still there (like he didn’t have enough to do!) Jacob did, reported back to her along with photos, and then she ghosted him. Later, KM posted on social media her skepticism that the fires were caused y climate change. Not helpful, but so on brand for the Millers.

I strongly recommend that you follow Jacob Soboroff on IG, where you can see videos of the reporting he did live during the fires. At one point in the book he said he was doing all this with a migraine, and if you are a migraine sufferer, you can appreciate how much harder this made his job and how heroic this was.

This book is an absolute recommend.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book goes through the events of the 2025 LA fires, and is framed around the view point of a reporter from the community being burnt down, along with some other side povs (e.g., firemen, a couple who happened to be out of town during the events, and the governor).

The story does bounce around a lot between being a third person overview of the events and then a zoom in of the actions and emotions of a single individual. It also ends somewhat abruptly and at points it did get a bit repetitive, but overall it was a great listen.

I think it is also a book that might be difficult in the beginning for people not from CA to understand some of the roads or towns that aren’t well known to those in other parts of the country (or world). Which is ofc classic Californian behavior. But the ending is very well written. It presents a robust argument that this event is a templete for future natural disasters in the next few decades (unless we do something, talk to you Donny J Dipshit). Also on that note, this book really paints G. Newsom in a positive light and makes D. Trump and E. Musk look like idiots/jackasses….which checks out.

[Danielle Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook: slow start for someone that doesn’t understand the local geography. Picked up nicely. Very informative account of the fire and aftermath from a reporter on the ground. Mostly reporting but with a personal touch?

[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.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

How many times can the author let us know that he’s from the area?

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not impressed. Although the info about the fires was good, you have read page after page of the author puffing up his reporting of the fires and all the important people he knows.
This book was not a book about the fires. It is a book about a reporter, who just happens to report on the fires.

[Desirae · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Firestorm was first announced, it promised something rare: a major disaster narrative written by someone who lived it, who reported it in real time, and who came of age in the very place that burned. Jacob Soboroff’s dual vantage point — as both an experienced journalist and a native Angeleno — theoretically positioned him to craft a powerful and intimate document of the Great Los Angeles Fires of January 2025. Unfortunately, over the course of just under 300 pages, the book’s central tension — its struggle between reportage and personal narrative — never resolves, leaving Firestorm with an unsettling and unfulfilling identity crisis.

At its core, Firestorm is an account of the Palisades and Eaton fires, two conflagrations that consumed tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of homes, and displaced entire communities. Soboroff places readers on the ground from the start, recounting the moment he first learned of the blaze through his brother’s text and immediately pivoting from his regular reporting to cover one of the worst domestic fires in modern California history firsthand.

In its strongest moments, Soboroff’s book conveys the chaos, fear, and human scale of the disaster in vivid terms. He relives the surreal experience of watching his own childhood neighborhood — even the house he was born in — succumb to flame, and bridges that with the experiences of firefighters, evacuated residents, and emergency officials in a way that only someone present in the moment could. His depictions are grounded in concrete detail, and readers feel the anxiety of crumbling infrastructure and wind-driven fire as if watching from the burning hillside itself.

Yet it is precisely this mix — deeply personal experience next to moment-by-moment journalist’s workflow — that creates the book’s central problem. Firestorm never quite decides what it wants to be.

Is it a piece of serious investigative writing about climate-driven disaster and systemic failure? Not really. Despite threads that touch on factors like the federal disaster response, misinformation in political discourse, and long-term wildfire projections, these elements are often superficial, underanalyzed, or treated as secondary to the narrative’s immediate events. Large structural questions — about climate change, land policy, infrastructure resilience, and socioeconomic inequities — are introduced but rarely followed with the depth or context necessary to make the book substantively insightful.

Is it a memoir about Soboroff’s personal experience of reporting and loss? Again, only in fragments. The moments of self-reflection are powerful — the loss of place, the collision between childhood memory and adult reality — but they are scattered and sometimes overwhelmed by procedural reporting: where he drove, which media outlets he appeared on, and snippets of his messages during live coverage. This oscillation means the emotional narrative never quite deepens into the sustained introspection that defines strong memoir.

Indie reviewers and readers have echoed this sense of indecision. Many note that the book feels like a long magazine article expanded into a book instead of a fully realized standalone work. They cite the presence of verbatim transcripts of on-air reports and group chats — interesting in the moment, but not sufficient to support a standalone narrative of 270+ pages — as padding that distracts from deeper thematic threads.

As one Goodreads reader put it, “It was unclear whether this was intended as memoir or reportage… and the editorial choices failed to make either feel fully realized.” Others mention that the book seems too short — not enough to provide the comprehensive analysis one expects from disaster literature, and yet too long for a memoir that largely retraces familiar emotional territory.

The result is a narrative that feels on the fence, like a book torn between ambition and form. Had Soboroff committed to one of those poles — rigorous investigative climate reporting rooted in broader systems, or a more intimate memoir free from the constraints of disaster chronology — Firestorm might have been a truly compelling work. Instead, it circles the territory of both without fully inhabiting either.

That said, the book does have merits. Soboroff’s voice is earnest and affecting, and his firsthand presence lends an immediacy that many disaster books can lack. For readers who lived through the January 2025 fires or who follow Soboroff’s reporting, there’s significant emotional resonance here. But for readers seeking profound insight into wildfire science, policy implications, or a fully formed personal journey, Firestorm often feels too thin or too diffused to satisfy.

In the end, Firestorm is neither a definitive account of America’s New Age of Disaster nor a deeply introspective memoir. It sits on the fence between journalism and personal narrative — and because of that, it’s a compelling but ultimately incomplete portrait of one of the most devastating wildfires in recent memory.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a native Angeleno, I was riveted to this book as I was riveted to the television last January, watching my beloved city burn down. Jacob Soboroff is a reporter for NBC News who was assigned to report on the fires in Los Angeles. In addition, he grew up in Pacific Palisades, and watching and reporting on the incineration of his childhood home, neighborhood, and memories made his reporting raw and emotional, with a lot of information about people, places, and history that others without his background could not have provided. This book provides both an encapsulation and expansion of that reporting, emotions and all, with a lot of additional information about the fires, people impacted by them, the science of fire management, and the politics of Los Angeles and the US that are inextricably linked to the response and narrative about the fire. I loved this book in part because like the author I was familiar with all the places he described and many of the people. I share his sadness at the destruction of our city and the issues that are impairing discovery of facts related to the fire’s outbreak and the rebuilding effort. This book is an excellent work of journalism and a memoir There is more to come, however, as the investigation into the fire’s causes continues, as does the rebuilding effort which currently appears to be hampered by the broken Los Angeles permitting and building process that officials promised to fix. I was hoping for some reporting on how Rick Caruso saved portions of Palisades Village and how the Getty Villa escaped the flames. I suspect both were due to private firefighting forces- another chapter on deployment of those types of resources would have been interesting, particularly as Soboroff did explore in part the ongoing story of Los Angeles as a contrast between rich and poor coexisting in what most of the time is paradise- until disaster strikes. Still a really great book that earns 5 stars from me because its topic is so personal.

[Michelle Reissig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book may have been written too soon to fulfill its promise.

I had hoped for a book that begins to tackle the many contributors to this disaster - climate change, development patterns & infrastructure in fire-prone areas, insurance, disaster readiness & relief, and yes, even water policy in Southern California. To be fair, the author makes brief mention to all of these topics, and they are topics that are nuanced and expansive - but that is exactly why it would have taken longer than a few months to do them any justice.

What this book is instead is a drawn out account the author’s movements and reporting while covering the fires. When I say drawn out, I mean full verbatim transcripts of his on-air coverage, texts in various group chats, which roads he took to get places, and on and on. Most of it felt like if you asked a student to double or triple the word count on what is otherwise a compelling retelling of reporting during a disaster.

He does weave accounts from a handful of firefighters, residents, business owners, and his own experience as someone that grew up in the Palisades- but even these failed to capture the full human emotional impact that I know the author experienced and was trying to convey, and that I’ve seen in other coverage. If he had made telling these human stories the focus of the book rather than a supplement to a blow-by-blow of his reporting movements, I think it would have had a greater impact.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative regarding the tragic La fires but so much more from the politics of our country and the importance of science and resources needed to help prevent and manage such horrific disasters. This also shared the human element and the hope of those who lived there and lost their communities and the strength needed to rebuild..

[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.

[Elif Yucel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish there had been more about the Altadena community and the Eaton fire

[Beth Hammon · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes Firestorm compelling isn’t just its careful accounting of events, statistics, or the grim day-by-day progression, but the emotional clarity that underpins the reporting. Soboroff’s connection to Pacific Palisades - and the loss of his childhood home and community - gives the book a depth and gravity that elevates it beyond standard disaster journalism. The grief is present, but so is restraint, which makes the impact stronger.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the ARC.

[Ariadne · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was confused as to what it wanted to be. is it supposed to be a memoir or a story about the LA fires? in the end it's neither, a lot of the memoir is verbatim retellings of what the reporter said on air. it just felt like filler.

[Jeff Berman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Choked up more than once devouring this exceptional first-person and reported narrative about the devastating LA fires. Jacob Soboroff grew up in Pacific Palisades and his love for our shared home of Los Angeles is a deep and beautiful streak running through this propulsive book. A remarkable work. Highly recommend.

[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.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

My parents house, the house I grew up in and still my house in the summers home from college, burned down in the Cedar Fire in 2003. My anxiety is triggered by news cover of wildfires, the smell and sight of smoke, ashy orange fire skies, even the Santa Ana winds are enough to make my heart race. Mercifully, the sky was blue and entirely smoke free in the pocket of North Hollywood where I live. The only “news coverage” I got was from my friends and family across the country calling to ask if I was okay. I wanted to read this book to learn about the world changing event my city went through entirely without me. In that regard, the book is informative and well written. The interviews are the Gavin Newsom are good…I’m realizing rn that first hand accounts from Karen Bass, the fire chief, or anyone in local government are notably absent. Those perspectives and opinions would have added a lot to the narrative.

What was really missing for me was the in between moments of Jacob’s experience. How he felt, what he was thinking in between appearances on all the NBC shows. The book is an accurate well reported timeline of events, but it’s missing emotional context from author and important participants.

[Steve Peifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve spent lots of time trying to figure out why this book was such a let down. I’m interested in books about fires, the author grew up in a neighborhood devastated by last year’s disaster, and he is a reporter with experience in communications, so this should had been a slam dunk.

It wasn’t.

At one point, he makes an excellent point that the people who work in service jobs in affluent areas affected by the fire are just as much a part of the community as homeowners. They are probably ignored in many stories, and it is smart reporting.

Except.

He compares a restaurant worker to Chef Jose Andres, who started a world wide relief organization because they are both all about feeding people. They aren’t remotely the same and it’s such a weird analogy.

It’s crappy writing. And there is a lot of it here. Because he grew up in an area devastated by the fire, you figure he will have unique insights.

He doesn’t. He never misses a chance to point out where he worshiped, ate burgers and so many items of non interest. Maybe a better writer could have made it work, but boy howdy he doesn’t.

I have a friend who lost her house during the fires. It was such a huge fire, with dire implications for the future.

It should have been a much better book.

[David Rebula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firsthand account of the fires in the Palisades. Not definitive, scientific, nor all-encompassing; but as a journalist who grew up in the Pacific Palisades. As someone who ran the streets of the Palisades and Malibu, it was heart breaking watching it all burn to the ground. And as I said all along, no amount of water in the ocean could have been pumped through the hydrants to stop this fire. It was too overwhelming, even in the best case. Sure, there were some errors and failed planning from Karen Bass; but anything coming out of the Trump administration is a fucking lie and it should be treated as such. Oh, and when Trump did finally intervene and "turn on the faucet", he diverted billions of gallons to agriculture contractors, not a single drop to the firefighting efforts. The lead investigation from UCLA found the water pressure problem wasn't due to lack of water, but burning homes drawing down water mains. No executive order from Sacramento or Washington could "turn on" hydrant pressure in the Pacific Palisades

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly gripping moment-to-moment story of the devastating Palisades Park fire in January 2025. I simply could not stop reading. It was also heart wrenching.

Soboroff brings such searing authenticity to this story. It’s not a pretty one but to experience this devastating fire through someone’s eyes for whom the area of the fire was his home ground at one time adds a whole other level to the book and his experience. It was inspiring to see how everyone was working together but so sad to read about people who lost everything- I can’t even imagine what that must feel like c

Then Mr Orange Stupid enters the picture and the story tanks (only because he ruins everything he’s in, not the book itself) because he’s saying misleading and untrue information about the fire. I don’t know how Governor Newsom could even meet with him. - but he’s a man of moral fiber.

Really fine book. From an historical perspective this book is important.

I want to thank NetGalley and Mariner Books for allowing me to read this ARC.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jacob Soboroff has done an up-close and personal report of the largest disaster in U.S. history. Jacob is reporter for MSNBC. This book is a nonfiction account of the devastating 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Specifically, the Palisades and Eaton fires that ravaged Los Angeles in early 2025, destroying thousands of homes. It also is basically one man's (Jacob)grieving the loss of his childhood home and neighborhood, over and over.

I felt the book struggles to balance personal memoir with objective, investigative journalism, suggesting it needed more time for editing to harmonize these two. There was a lot of detail, some good and sometimes too much. I found the analysis of broader, long-term policy issues—such as climate change and infrastructure management—to be limited in scope. The book seemed rushed and by the time it ended nothing was said about homes that were destroyed. The Palisades is a beautiful community, and it deserves better than what's happened so far. Soboroff's love of LA comes through quite strong. I appreciated the reporting not so much memoir.

[Wendy Fontaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting play-by-play of the fires in Palisades and Altadena from a reporter on the scene. This was a very detailed read of the logistics of the fire response. It lacks the big picture context that I anticipated, which makes sense maybe because Jacob is a reporter-he reports and observes. Still, I would have liked more contextual information throughout the book, rather than the smaller amount that comes at the end.
It's also a little padded with transcripts and documentation, which probably has a lot to do with putting together a whole book in the very short time span of seven months.
All that said, Jacob is very good at reflecting the emotions of the people affected by the fires, which is ultimately what a good reporter is supposed to do.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mix of the personal and professional makes this a riveting story of one of the worst fires in American history. The author, an NBC News correspondent provides an incredible account of covering the fires, which burned his childhood home in the Palisades, along with approximately 16,000 other structures. Soboroff recounts subsisting on Clif bars and Coke Zero, texting his family that he was okay, while reporting live on the fate of their beloved childhood institutions. Their high school: partially burned. Their synagogue: still standing. Their favorite pizza place: reduced to a smoldering pile. His brother and sister-in-law’s home: destroyed.
Highly recommended!

[Stephanie Shock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read a lot of books about various disasters, including hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, and the paradise fire, so maybe that is why I started this book a little confused as to why he kept mentioning himself, his homes, his neighborhood, his synagogue. It didn’t feel like it fit. But as the book went on it was clear it was more of a telling of his own experience with the fire and the reporting on it than a timeline and telling of the details and the events of the fire. It was still an interesting read and worth picking up, but I guess I was expecting more of fire book and less of a memoir.

[Jennifer Hobbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacob Soboroff’s “Firestorm” is a powerful, exceptionally well-written book that combines firsthand experience, interviews, and thorough reporting into a clear and deeply human account of the events it covers. Soboroff balances facts with personal stories in a way that makes the narrative compelling without ever feeling sensationalized. It’s informative, unsettling, and hard to put down.

Perhaps most striking is the uncomfortable truth at the heart of the book: the people who most need to read it are, sadly, likely the ones who will enjoy it least. That tension is exactly what makes Firestorm so important. A thoughtful, sobering, and necessary read.

[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!