Behind the News

Gripping visuals from AP capture impact, scale of LA wildfires  

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
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When dry conditions and punishing winds sparked the worst fire in Los Angeles history, AP visual journalists were among the first to reach the scene and capture the destruction. 

Anticipating the wildfires would become a major global story, AP reporters sprang into action to document the rapidly unfolding devastation, resulting in AP’s visual coverage dominating digital news sites worldwide.

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

AP’s Los Angeles wildfire photo gallery has been used by over 340 customers across their digital platforms, with early photos from the initial hours of the Palisades Fire reaching 1,900 uses in 868 unique digital publishers. AP images were featured on digital homepage photo galleries on sites including CNN, CBS, ABC, Sky News, The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Post and many more.

AP’s live video coverage was equally extensive, featuring dramatic footage of homes engulfed in flames, firefighters on the scene, and both ground and aerial shots of scorched areas. These shots garnered hundreds of thousands of views and were used by dozens of customers. AP’s most watched live shot—a briefing by Pasadena officials and state representatives on Jan. 8—drew over 100,000 viewers.

“A wildfire is among the toughest assignments for any visual journalist,” said Derl McCrudden, AP vice president and head of global news production. “The scale of destruction and unpredictable conditions make it a uniquely challenging task, but our job as AP journalists is to go into the field to bear witness. Our teams’ commitment to capturing the destruction and efforts to tame the fires allowed the world to witness the devastation first-hand.”

See AP’s coverage of the wildfires.

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