Scenes From Hollywood’s Own Disaster Epic: “Sometimes, Words Fail”

Sometimes, words fail. Photos, too. The following collection of extraordinary images capture moments of peril and loss during the Los Angeles wildfires yet nonetheless represent the barest fragments of a tragedy that, as of this hour, is still unfolding.

Numbers lend some perspective: At least 24 people dead. More than 12,000 homes, businesses, schools and other structures gone. An estimated 130,000 people forced to flee their homes. The financial toll: $250 billion. By the time you read this, these figures are certain to be higher. The four blazes that have engulfed more than 40,000 acres are estimated to be the most destructive fires in U.S. history.

That this tragedy took place on Hollywood’s doorstep adds a woozy, surreal element. Thanks to countless disaster epics, the world is accustomed to seeing our city’s iconic landmarks in ruins. This photo of a blazing Pacific Palisades hillside? It must be CGI. The nighttime inferno encroaching on Netflix’s glittering Sunset Boulevard headquarters? Surely a miniature model with some rear projection. A hollowed-out Altadena home’s stairway leading to a gauzy smoke-filled sky? This is a Burbank backlot set, right? As anybody who’s endured tragedy knows, realization comes in waves — just like the Pacific lapping next to the charred skeletal frames of dream homes in Malibu. Understanding this disaster’s scope will take a while. Rebuilding even longer. Eventually, it will happen. In this town, a happy ending is never optional.