LA fires inch towards Olympic venues but 2028 Games 'not impossible'

Last year, Los Angeles received the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, a grand spectacle. Famous movie star Tom Cruise parachuted from a plane, soaring over the rolling hills of Los Angeles before landing in front of the Hollywood sign.

However, Los Angeles is now suffering from devastating wildfires. Over 90,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate, and at least 12,000 homes and commercial buildings have been damaged or completely destroyed. So far, 24 people have lost their lives, including an Australian, and the death toll is expected to rise as search efforts continue. Insured losses from the Los Angeles fires are projected to exceed $20 billion (approximately AUD 32 billion).

Although the 2028 Olympics are still several years away, this unprecedented disaster is casting a shadow over the city. Currently, three fires are still burning in Los Angeles, with the two largest—the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire—far from being contained. The Palisades Fire has already burned over 9,500 hectares of land, with gusts of wind reaching 160 kilometers per hour and dry vegetation exacerbating the blaze.

The Riviera Country Club, located within the Palisades Fire evacuation zone, was built in 1926 and boasts nearly a century of history and prestige. In addition to hosting a PGA Tour event next month, the club is also one of the official venues for the 2028 Olympics, where it will host the golf competition. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), located less than 15 minutes from the club, will serve as the Olympic Village. While neither the Riviera Country Club nor UCLA have been damaged by the nearby fires, Los Angeles will strive to prevent further destruction of buildings.

The Los Angeles Organizing Committee declares on its website that "LA28 will be the first Olympic Games in history to be held without building any new permanent venues." Instead, the Olympics will utilize the region's existing 80 sports venues and facilities. After all, Los Angeles has previously hosted the Olympics twice, in 1932 and 1984. Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, who served as a Los Angeles City Councilor for twenty years, including during the 1984 Olympics, told ABC News, "Los Angeles has been through a lot, but we've never experienced such intense and thorough destruction. Parts of our city have been completely scorched, and we've never dealt with anything like this."

Yaroslavsky stated, "Los Angeles is hurting right now, but the people of this city are incredibly resilient, and we've been through difficulties before. Maybe not this severe, but the patterns that apply to smaller disasters will also apply to larger ones, it just might take longer." He believes that the challenge for the Los Angeles Organizing Committee will be to host this major event in a cost-neutral or profitable way. "They should be able to do that," he said, "If, for some reason, they go over budget, it will put pressure on the Olympics itself and the city government, because the city has a legal obligation to cover any cost overruns for the Olympics. Setting aside the cost issue, I don't think what's happening here should necessarily make holding the Olympics impossible or difficult."

Los Angeles is not only set to host the 2028 Olympics, but also the World Cup next year and the Super Bowl in 2027. California Governor Gavin Newsom told NBC News that the upcoming events will only emphasize the need for the city to act quickly and effectively. "My humble view, not one of naive optimism, but one that just reinforces the necessity for us to move quickly and to do so in a spirit of partnership," he said. Earlier this week, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized Los Angeles officials' handling of the deadly wildfires on his Truth Social platform. "The fires in Los Angeles are still raging. Incompetent politicians don't know how to put them out," Trump said.

In an interview with NBC News, Newsom praised Trump for helping Los Angeles secure the right to host the next Olympics, stating that it was a "shining" opportunity for both the city and the President-elect. Newsom told NBC that despite the fires still burning in Los Angeles, the city is "already organizing a Marshall Plan." "We already have a team working on and reimagining Los Angeles 2.0, and we're making sure everyone is involved, not just people along the coast, but also those who have been devastated by this disaster," he said.

Yaroslavsky said that by the time the Olympics begin, the entire city will likely still be undergoing massive reconstruction efforts. "People will rebuild their homes, they will rebuild their businesses, they will rebuild their schools, churches, and synagogues," he said. "Whether or not the Olympics can be held is not a given. Instead, my assumption is that the Olympics will proceed, but the key is that the private committee must be even more rigorous than ever in maximizing its revenue and minimizing its costs, because the city will be busy with other things." Yaroslavsky said that the reconstruction efforts "won't be resolved by then" but "hopefully it's underway." "People who live here have reasons to live here—it's a beautiful place, a vibrant place," he said, "Don't underestimate Los Angeles."