The "WUI," or Wildland Urban Interface, is where human development and the wildland meet. In Southern California, it is often the clash of subdivisions and hillsides covered in chaparral, a type of vegetation that is extremely flammable and evolved in a biome with more frequent fire intervals than pine forests. Record temperatures of over 110 degrees and extreme drought conditions primed the landscape for extreme fire behavior.

Here a prison inmate fire crew rests after initial attack at the San Gabriel Complex, June 2016, in Asuza at the border of Los Angeles County and the Angeles National Forest. Southern California is home to some of the most complex WUI in the world, with millions living within immediate wildfire danger and ember cast zones.

Overhead the resting fire crew, a LA County Firehawk helicopter flies over, dropping water on flames encroaching near homes. In the background of the city lights, downtown Los Angeles can be seen.

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