A huge village has sprung up on the golden sands of a beach in Malibu, home to thousands of firefighters.
Firefighters from across North America eat, sleep and recuperate at Zuma Beach when they’re not fighting wildfires across Los Angeles.
About 5,000 emergency services mingle among the trailers and tents. The camp comes alive before dawn as thousands line up for breakfast.
The standards of dozens of fire battalions mark the presence of crews from across California and the western United States, as well as a contingent of newly arrived Mexicans.
For many, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, an opportunity to fill up on calories before the shift.
The food is being prepared by a team of inmates from California prisons, brought in to help with one of the largest disaster responses the state has ever seen.
Correctional Officer Terry Cook, who supervises inmates at the base, said he occasionally sees a familiar face among the regular firefighters, someone who has gotten back on track after serving time.
“I ran into prisoners who were in my camp two years ago, and I see them here in line, I shake their hands and say ‘congratulations,'” he said.
Two big fires in Los Angeles have burned 40,000 hectares (16,000 acres) since the eruption in fierce winds last Tuesday.
At least 24 people have died in the fires, which have destroyed more than 12,000 structures and forced 92,000 people from their homes, including the well-to-do Pacific Palisades, just a few kilometers from the fire camp.
After breakfast, the teams prepare their vehicles and arm themselves with snacks, sandwiches, drinks and sweets.
With the threat of dangerous winds across the region, some units are tasked with attacking new hotspots, while others are tasked with extinguishing the original fire.
With orders in hand, each team sets out, spreading out along the streets of Pacific Palisades or up into the untamed brush of Topanga Canyon.
For some, it is their first time in the field as part of this firefighting effort; for others it’s just another day in an already long week.
As he prepares to climb Mandeville Canyon, Jake Dean says that in his 26 years as a firefighter, he has never seen a fire as devastating as this one.
“After the first day, many people I had known for a long time at base camp barely recognized me,” he said. “My phone didn’t recognize me to turn on, I was so tired and dirty.”
But with massive air operations eating fire on all fronts, Dean can feel the work has paid off.
“Today won’t be so bad,” he said. “We’re going to keep calm and drink lots of water and be ready for the long haul here and the next fire.”
