California’s notorious Santa Ana winds were blowing last week, bringing with them the threat of devastating wildfires.
Late in the evening on Dec. 4, West Region photo editor Stephanie Mullen was monitoring a fire that broke out in Ventura County, about 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It was near populated areas and Mullen knew that if the winds really picked up the flames could start burning homes.
That night, she hired Northern California freelance photographer Noah Berger, an expert at shooting wildfires, and partnered him with Los Angeles-based staff photographer Jae Hong. Berger drove through the night and he and Hong were in place as daylight broke and the fire surged into the city of Ventura, where it would burn hundreds of homes. They rapidly shot and filed, allowing AP to deliver striking imagery before our competitors had even started their day.
A man watches flames consume a residence as a wildfire rages in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Firefighters monitor the Thomas fire as it burns through Los Padres National Forest near Ojai, Calif., Dec. 8, 2017.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Palm trees sway in a gust of wind as a firefighter maneuvers a hose line while battling a wildfire at Faria State Beach in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 7, 2017.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Flames from the Thomas fire burn on a hillside above a truck on Highway 101 north of Ventura, Calif., Dec. 6, 2017.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
A firefighter battles a wildfire among cactus in Ojai, Calif., Dec. 7, 2017.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Fire crews search for hot spots among destroyed homes in the Rancho Monserate Country Club community, Dec. 8, 2017, in Fallbrook, Calif.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
A motorists on Highway 101 watches flames from the Thomas fire leap above the roadway north of Ventura, Calif., Dec. 6, 2017. As many as five fires closed highways, schools and museums, shut down production of TV series and cast a hazardous haze over the region. About 200,000 people were under evacuation orders.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Firefighter Dan Whelan is silhouetted against the sun as he battles a wildfire burning near Faria State Beach in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 7, 2017.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Dick Marsala looks through debris from his destroyed home after a wildfire roared through the Rancho Monserate Country Club, Dec. 8, 2017, in Bonsall, Calif.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
Paul and Erica Mattesich embrace before sifting through rubble at their Ventura, Calif., home, Dec. 6, 2017. The family lost their house when the Thomas fire tore through their neighborhood on Colina Vista.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Bree Laubacher pauses while sifting through rubble at her Ventura, Calif., home following a wildfire, Dec. 6, 2017. A barbecue smoker and her son's batting cage survived the blaze.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
A news photographer takes pictures of a wildfire in the Lake View Terrace area of Los Angeles, Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Chris Carlson
Carrie Shore walks by her neighbors' wildfire-damaged home along Via San Anselmo in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles, Dec. 6, 2017.
AP Photo / Chris Carlson
A man tries to get a hand on a horse that got loose during wildfire in the Lake View Terrace area of Los Angeles, Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Chris Carlson
A Los Angeles County firefighter pulls a firehose through the smoke from a wildfire in the Lake View Terrace area of Los Angeles, Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Chris Carlson
A wildfire burns along the 101 Freeway., Dec. 5, 2017, in Ventura, Calif.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A firefighter stands on a hillside scorched by a wildfire, Dec. 6, 2017, in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. A dangerous new wildfire erupted in the tony Bel Air area of Los Angeles as firefighters battled three other destructive blazes across Southern California.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
A photographer struggles through smoke from a wildfire burning near a home in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Two residents watch from a rooftop as a home burns in a wildfire, Dec. 5, 2017, in Ventura, Calif. Raked by ferocious Santa Ana winds, explosive wildfires northwest of Los Angeles destroyed hundreds of homes and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Flames consume a home on Via Arroyo as a wildfire rages in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Flames consume a home on Via Arroyo as a wildfire rages in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Shrubs burst into flames near a home as a wildfire burns in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Smoke rises behind a leveled apartment complex as a wildfire burns in Ventura, Calif., Dec. 5, 2017.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
Firefighter Simon Garcia of Heartland Fire Dept. gets a hug from a woman who did not give her name after she arrived to find her house was intact in the Rancho Monserate Country Club, Dec. 8, 2017, in Fallbrook, Calif.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull
A helicopter drops water while trying to keep a wildfire from jumping Santa Ana Road near Ventura, Calif., Dec. 9, 2017.
AP Photo / Noah Berger
By having the AP team in place at sun up on the first day of the fires, the AP owned the coverage in those important early hours. We had impressive play globally including The New York Times, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, abcnews.com and dailymail.com.
Carlson, Berger and Hong took turns napping in their cars so AP always had eyes on the fires.
In San Diego County, Bull spent the night in his car to get daybreak photos of the destruction.
Later that morning, two wildfires broke out in Los Angeles County. Orange County-based photographer Chris Carlson worked his way through road closures to make images of horses being rescued and flames overwhelming homes in Sylmar. Carlson, Berger and Hong took turns napping in their cars so AP always had a photographer’s eyes on the fires.
There were more fires as the week wore on, most notably in San Diego County where flames destroyed dozens of homes in a retirement community. As darkness fell, San Diego photographer Greg Bull snaked his way through roadblocks and heavy traffic to capture nighttime images there, then slept in his car and got haunting daybreak photos of the destruction.
For providing a photo package no competitor could rival, Hong, Carlson, Bull and Berger share this week’s $300 Best of the States prize.