Trip Jennings

Nearly a year after catastrophic wildfires reshaped Los Angeles, Weathered host Maiya May returns to ask a question facing communities worldwide: what does recovery truly look like in an era of escalating climate extremes? What she finds goes far beyond one city - survivors still grappling with loss, systemic failures, and unanswered questions that echo across fire-prone regions on every continent. As climate-driven wildfires intensify from California to Australia, Southern Europe, and beyond, Maiya’s investigation uncovers an emerging blueprint for wildfire-resilient communities - highlighting innovation, adaptation, and collective action that transcend borders. Both urgent and hopeful, the film offers a timely, internationally relevant roadmap for how societies can prepare for a hotter, more volatile future.

"Elemental" takes viewers on a journey with the top experts in the nation to better understand fire. We follow the harrowing escape from Paradise as the town ignited from wind-driven embers and burned within a few hours of the fire's start. We visit fire labs where researchers torch entire houses to learn why some homes burn and others survive. We learn from Native Americans as they employ fire to benefit nature and increase community safety as they have for thousands of years. We follow researchers who work to understand the effects of climate on forests and the crucial role that natural forests play in storing vast amounts of carbon. Along the way we listen to people who have survived the deadliest fires to underscore the importance of this quest.

To explain the breakdown of conditions that led to this extreme weather event, WEATHERED: INSIDE THE LA FIRESTORM interviews survivors, scientists, first responders, and public officials, including former U.S. Fire Administrator Dr. Lori Moore-Merril, former LA County Fire Chief Derek Alkonis, retired U.S. Forest Service Fire Scientist Jack Cohen, Ph.D., and LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marro.