NEW YORK – The toll of wildfires is usually counted in acres burnt, property destroyed and lives lost to smoke and flames. But three studies published this week suggest the cost to human health from the Maui and Los Angeles wildfires was substantially higher.

Two of the papers explore what happened after the Hawaii fire in August 2023 – one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in a century. A third looks at the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year.

The Maui fire was directly blamed for more than 100 deaths. But it also left 1 in 5 with lung damage and as many as half with symptoms of depression, the new research found. The month of the fire saw 13 suicide and overdose deaths, translating to nearly double the normal suicide and overdose death rates.

The study of the Los Angeles fires c

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