In early July, firefighters were battling two large blazes in Northern California and forecasters were warning of record heat and gusty winds that could stir up more trouble. Then the Holiday fire hit Santa Barbara County, destroying homes and forcing evacuations. In the middle of the month, the Ferguson fire west of Yosemite National Park doubled in size in one night, forcing crews to scramble to set up defenses. Then came the Cranston fire south of Idyllwild and the deadly Carr fire in Redding. By the end of July, wildfires across the state had killed eight people and scorched 200,000 acres.
As August began, the Mendocino Complex fire north of San Francisco exploded to 290,000 acres, making it the largest fire on record in California. Prolonged drought and extreme heat have made California ripe for dangerous fire conditions in recent months and years. Of the five largest wildfires in state history, four have occurred since 2012.
Felipe Montiel of San Marino fishes at Lake Elsinore with the Holy fire reflected on the water.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
A barn is engulfed in flames as the River fire spreads with the wind near Hendricks Road in Lakeport, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters monitor a burn operation on top of a ridge near the town of Ladoga, Calif.,
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A starry night view of the smoke clouds rising from the Ranch fire burning in the Mendocino National Forest, as seen from in Lakeport, Calif., on Aug. 1, 2018. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Heavy smoke obscures the sun as a firefighting aircraft works the Holy fire burning in Cleveland National Forest above Lake Elsinore.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters monitor a burn operation near Ladoga, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters monitor a burn operation on top of a ridge near the town of Ladoga, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A helicopter prepares to make a water drop near the raging River fire west of Lakeport, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters work to keep flames from the River fire from destroying a home as evening winds kick in near Lakeport, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
A plane prepares to make a fire retardant drop on the Holy fire burning in Cleveland National Forest.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Chickens watch as a home is destroyed by the River fire in a neighborhood near Lakeport, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters monitor an oak tree at the site of a property that was burned by the River fire near Lakeport, Calif.
Marcus Yam is a foreign correspondent and photographer for the Los Angeles Times. Since joining in 2014, he has covered a wide range of topics including humanitarian issues, social justice, terrorism, foreign conflicts, natural disasters, politics and celebrity portraiture. He won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography in 2022 for images documenting the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country. Yam is a two-time recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award, notably in 2019, for his unflinching body of work showing the everyday plight of Gazans during deadly clashes in the Gaza Strip. He has been part of two Pulitzer Prize-winning breaking news teams.
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.
