Dramatic Pictures Reveal Scale of Wine Country Wildfires
As firefighters are battling the blazes, some residents are returning to the ashes that remain of their homes, searching for what—and who—is left of the lives they once lived.
A home where families once celebrated holidays and played with their kids is now nothing but a lone wall, barely standing amidst the chaos that surrounds it. An ocean of debris and devastation flows outward, burying the skeleton of a car beneath it.
These are among the powerful images emerging from Northern California’s wine country, where 22 wildfires have taken eight counties hostage since Sunday night, in what’s expected to be among the worst disasters the state has ever experienced.
Seasoned news photographer Noah Berger has been working in California for more than two decades. For the past six years, he has put a heavier focus on documenting fires. Berger, who typically shoots six to eight fires each summer, says he’s
