We’re at peak fire season in the West, and this year has been notably busy compared with the previous two seasons, which were tempered by back-to-back wet winters.
According to Cal Fire incident data, roughly 838,575 acres have burned so far this season. That’s more than in 2022 and 2023 combined.
Although fires are part of our forests’ natural ecosystem, human-caused climate change and roughly a century of flawed forest management have greatly increased the risks that wildland fires will explode into the massive infernos we’ve seen happen more frequently in recent years.
A Riverside County Sheriff deputy walks through the area where many vintage and antique cars were destroyed next to a destroyed by the Airport fire off Ortega Highway.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
The fire surrounds the Ortega Hwy while covering the Airport Fire in the Santa Ana Mountains. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters battle the Airport fire along Ortega Highway in the Santa Ana Mountains.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Fountain Valley firefighters douse a home along El Cariso Road as the Airport fire burns in the Santa Ana Mountains.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Orange County firefighters from Engine 126 battle the Airport fire along Ortega Highway in the Santa Ana Mountains.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Airport fire on Ortega Highway across the street from Hafey Farms. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A taco truck in Lake Elsinore serves Mexican food as the Airport fire burns in the Santa Ana Mountains.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Fire crews keep a watchful eye on the Airport fire in the community of Ranch Santa Margarita on Tuesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighting helicopter battles the Airport fire near Santiago Peak on Tuesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A crew keeps an eye on the Airport fire Tuesday along Meander Lane in Rancho Santa Margarita.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Bridge fire - Angeles National Forest
A firefighter uses hand tools to try and stop the Bridge fire from advancing toward homes in the mountain community of Wrightwood.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Bridge fire consumes hillsides on both sides of Highway 2 in Wrightwood.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Burning embers off Highway 2 in Wrightwood. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighter puts water on a barn after the Bridge fire spread into the community of Wrightwood.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
San Bernardino County firefighters work to contain a spot fire from the Bridge fire burning in Wrightwood on Sept. 11.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Line fire - San Bernardino County
Firefighters are overcome with smoke while battling a house fire as the Line fire burns in Running Springs.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The Line fire burns Tuesday evening just south of Running Springs as seen from Highway 330.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Residents flee the Line fire Tuesday in Green Valley Lake, which was under an evacuation order along with other mountain communities in the San Bernardino National Forest.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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As darkness falls Sunday, the Line fire burns on an eastern ridge over Highway 38 near Mountain Home Village in Thurman Flats.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters from the Mill Creek hotshot crew monitor the Line fire burning over a ridge off Highway 38 on Monday.
Gina Ferazzi grew up in the small New England town of Longmeadow, Mass. She has been a staff photographer with the Los Angeles Times since 1994. Her photos are a part of the staff Pulitzer Prizes for Breaking News in 2016 for the San Bernardino terrorist attack and for the wildfires in 2004. She’s an all-around photographer covering assignments from Winter Olympics, presidential campaigns to local and national news events. Her video documentaries include stories on black tar heroin, health clinics, women priests and Marine suicide. A two-sport scholarship athlete at the University of Maine, Orono, she still holds the record for five goals in one field hockey game.
Los Angeles Times staff photographer Allen J. Schaben is an award-winning journalist capturing a wide range of images over the past 34 years. Before joining The Times, he honed his craft at the Detroit Free Press, Dallas Morning News, Wichita Eagle and Connecticut Post. Schaben earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993.
