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Photos: Fires ravaging California after heat wave

A house engulfed in flames.
A home is destroyed by the Airport fire in El Cariso Village along Ortega Highway.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
By Wally Skalij
, Gina Ferazzi and Allen J. Schaben

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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.

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For updates on the Line fire, Bridge fire and other fire hazards, you can follow the L.A. Times’ coverage. You can also check for updates from the National Weather Service in Los Angeles or San Diego, and from officials with the Angeles National Forest and San Bernardino National Forest.

Airport fire

A Riverside County Sheriff deputy walks through area destroyed by the Airport fire off Ortega Highway.
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)

A fire crew silhouetted by flames.
Firefighters battle the Airport fire along Ortega Highway in the Santa Ana Mountains.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A firefighter sprays a burning house.
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)
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Airport fire on Ortega Highway across the street from Hafey Farms. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

People eat by a taco truck as a wildfire illuminates a ridge in the distance.
A taco truck in Lake Elsinore serves Mexican food as the Airport fire burns in the Santa Ana Mountains.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Smoke from the Airport fire billows near a home.
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 helicopter drops water on a fire.
A firefighting helicopter battles the Airport fire near Santiago Peak on Tuesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A fire truck on a residential street with a huge smoke plume in the distance.
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 battles flames on the ground.
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)
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Burning embers twinkle on a mountain ridge at night.
The Bridge fire consumes hillsides on both sides of Highway 2 in Wrightwood.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Burning embers off Highway 2 in Wrightwood. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

A firefighter sprays a burning barn.
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 struggle to breathe in thick smoke.
Firefighters are overcome with smoke while battling a house fire as the Line fire burns in Running Springs.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Smoke and flames from the Line fire illuminate a ridge at night.
The Line fire burns Tuesday evening just south of Running Springs as seen from Highway 330.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Packed cars drive away from a cloud of smoke.
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)
The Line fire burns on a ridge above a highway.
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 are silhouetted by smoke.
Firefighters from the Mill Creek hotshot crew monitor the Line fire burning over a ridge off Highway 38 on Monday.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Wally Skalij

Wally Skalij was a staff photojournalist at the Los Angeles Times from 1997 to 2025. He was part of the team that was a finalist for the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography.

Gina Ferazzi

Gina Ferazzi 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. Her video documentaries include stories on black tar heroin, health clinics, women priests and Marine suicide. Raised in Longmeadow, Mass., she was a two-sport scholarship athlete at the University of Maine, Orono.

Allen J. Schaben

Los Angeles Times staff photographer Allen J. Schaben is an award-winning journalist capturing a wide range of images over the past 35 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.

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