Wildfire

Wildfire by Philip Cheung, 2025 All book profits will be donated to GoFundMe.org’s Wildfire Relief Fund _____________________________________________________________ The sky over the Pacific Palisades had turned the color​ of rust, with the thick smoke blocking the late afternoon​ sun. When I arrived just a couple of hours after the first​ reports of the Palisades fire had come in, multimillion-dollar homes and the hills above them were already​ on fire as I turned off Sunset Boulevard and entered​ a residential neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades. The​ roads leading out of the hills were filled with evacuation​ traffic that clogged the winding streets. In contrast,​ others had abandoned their cars altogether, shouldering​ backpacks, pets, and whatever they could carry. Firefighting aircraft had been making progress for a​ brief window, dropping water and fire retardant over the​ advancing line. But as the Santa Ana winds strengthened,​ their operations were delayed. Without them, the flames​ leaped across roads and ridgelines with terrifying​ speed. Then, there was a silence in the air — punctuated​ only by gusts of wind, burning homes, and exploding​ propane tanks. Covering a wildfire requires constant awareness. The​ unpredictability of shifting winds can rapidly change fire​ direction, cutting off escape routes, and thick smoke​ reduces visibility, obscuring hazards like falling trees,​ downed power lines, and hidden embers that can ignite​ new fires behind or around you. The air itself is hazardous,​ filled with toxic particulates from burning structures,​ vehicles, and industrial materials. Conditions can turn​ deadly without warning. Despite the overwhelming danger, some residents​ chose to stay and fight. A man, who appeared to be in​ his sixties, stood in his neighbor’s yard, dousing dry​ brush with a garden hose. The visibility dropped to a few​ hundred feet in places as the toxic smoke thickened. Then, just as night settled in and the Palisades Fire​ seemed unstoppable, news broke of a new fire emerging​ in Altadena: the Eaton Fire. Two blazes now bookended​ the city, both raging out of control. + Philip Cheung _________________________________________________________ Design by Luminosity Lab | Caleb Cain Marcus 7 × 8.5”, staple-bound 32 pages, 23 plates Edition of 350