THE FIRE OF FREE

At 20 years old, FAUSTO LOPEZ was one of thousands of heroic firefighters who fought the Los Angeles wildfires—some of the most destructive in California history. But amid the black smoke and fierce winds, he also faced a bigger battle: for a second chance at life.

- ERIKA HAYASAKI

A LINE OF 17 FIREFIGHTERS clambered up a smoky mountain as a Los Angeles neighborhood burned below them. In the span of 48 hours, the area had become a graveyard of cars left behind in flaming driveways. Living rooms glowing the color of lava. Palm trees turned into torches. Roofs disintegrating like pieces of fiery paper. It was January 9, 2025, and 34,000 acres of Los Angeles County had already been swallowed by the two blazes, fueled by the powerful Santa Ana winds.

“Damn,” Fausto Lopez said, feeling mesmerized and awestruck. This is really happening right now. Six feet tall and athletic, with long, messy black hair, Fausto wore a tangerine-colored uniform and helmet and carried a 50-pound pack on his back. He had been in the trenches of dozens of California wildfires over the past seven months. But not like this. Home after home obliterated. Neighborhood blocks leveled, as if someone had detonated a bomb. Fausto saw evacuees evading road barriers, dodging powerlines, and clawing their way back into burn zones to find out what was left of their homes. He watched residents crumple in front of the ruins of their former lives, homes still smoldering or in flames. House after house, only brick chimneys still stood amid piles of burnt ash, twisted metal, melted glass.

Fausto’s fire crew had a mission: save the residences that had not yet been destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California. The men stopped at the edge of a canyon, looking out over the black and orange terrain. Only a ravine separated them from the incinerating city now. Two miles away, flames encroached upon the land, thick with trees: black walnuts, red willows, live oaks, desert palms. Fresh kindling. Fausto understood the assignment. He excelled at it. Hike. Cut. Hydrate. Sleep. Survive. Contain the flames.