A week from hell: See how LA fires destroyed neighborhoods from coast to foothills

A person is surrounded by wildfire smoke on Pacific Coast Highway during the Palisades Fire, on Jan. 7, 2025. The fire devastated the coastal communities of Pacific Palisades and Malibu. (Ted Soqui/CalMatters)

(CalMatters) — Charred skeletons of beloved homes. Desperate homeowners endangering their lives as they hose down their burning roofs. Emergency workers carefully carrying a body bag out of the rubble. An American flag in blackened tatters.

The images arriving in the wake of the wind-driven wildfires in Los Angeles County are haunting, giving all of us a window into the pain, grief and devastation facing hundreds of thousands of people.

CalMatters, part of StatesNewsroom, dispatched contributing photographers Ted Soqui and Jules Hotz to Pacific Palisades and Malibu, along the Los Angeles coast, and Altadena, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, to chronicle the impact of one of the worst disasters in California history.

As of Sunday, Jan. 12, an estimated 12,000 houses, businesses, schools and other structures have been damaged or destroyed, at least 24 people have died and about 150,000 people were ordered or warned to evacuate.

(Click and scroll photos)