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.
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The Eaton Fire burns in the community of Altadena. Because of overwhelming demand, firefighters were unable to get water from hydrants that ran dry, as homes and businesses burned, on Jan. 8, 2025. (Ted Soqui/CalMatters)
The Eaton Fire burns in the community of Altadena. Because of overwhelming demand, firefighters were unable to get water from hydrants that ran dry, as homes and businesses burned, on Jan. 8, 2025. Photos by Ted Soqui for CalMatters
People fleeing the fire carry their belongings as they evacuate their homes during the Palisades Fire, near Sunset Boulevard and the Pacific Coast Highway, on Jan. 7, 2025. (Ted Soqui/CalMatters)
Super Scooper firefighting aircraft load up with water off the coast of Los Angeles on Jan. 7, 2025. (Ted Soqui/ for CalMatters)
Firefighters attempt to put out a fire at a home in Altadena, on Jan. 8, 2025. The community was devastated by the Eaton Fire. (Ted Soqui/ for CalMatters)
A person uses a hose to spray water on the flames of a house to prevent the Eaton Fire from spreading to more homes in Pasadena on Jan. 8, 2025. (Jules Hotz/CalMatters)
Burned homes smolder in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire on Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, on Jan. 9, 2025. (Ted Soqui/CalMatters)
A burned and tattered American flag waves on a flagpole after the Palisades Fire on Jan. 9, 2025. (Ted Soqui/CalMatters)
A fireplace remains standing after a home was burned down by the Eaton Fire in Altadena on Jan. 8, 2025. (Jules Hotz/CalMatters)
Firefighters work to put out a fire in the rubble of a home that burned on Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, as a result of the Palisades Fire. Jan. 9, 2025. (Ted Soqui/CalMatters)
Smoke from the Eaton Fire and surrounding wildfires fills the air around downtown Los Angeles. (Jules Hotz/CalMatters)
A vivid sunset as smoke from the Palisades Fire fills the sky in Santa Monica. Jan. 9, 2025. (Jules Hotz/CalMatters)
Emergency crews remove a body from a burned home off Pacific Coast Highway, near Pacific Palisades, on Jan. 9, 2025. (Ted Soqui/CalMatters)
Two people survey the damage of their home that was burned to the ground in an Altadena neighborhood during the Eaton Fire on Jan. 8, 2025. (Jules Hotz/CalMatters)
