More than an inch of rain fell in many areas, loosening Los Angeles hillsides burned bare by the recent blaze near the Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

A study by UCLA, published on Jan. 15, showed that 85% of individuals employed as household workers in Los Angeles are Latino. And, among these individuals, 47% are self-employed, making them ineligible for unemployment benefits or formal protections such as paid leave.

In the era when American cities regularly caught fire, the widespread destruction seeded what looks, in retrospect, like possibility.