When fire strips a hillside to bare dirt, the recovery that follows can take years or decades and the order you do things in decides that time line. Here’s what actually happens to a burn scar, and why the first thing to restore is the thing nobody can see. Key Takeaways: Standing on top of…

Eighteen months after the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history, a federal courtroom is asking who lit the spark. The harder question — how a charred landscape actually heals — is still playing out on the slopes above the Pacific Palisades. Key Takeaways: In a downtown Los Angeles federal courtroom this week, prosecutors began…