It is every amateur photographer’s dream to have the chance to capture a memorable event while it is happening; I never imagined stumbling upon one of the largest fires Los Angeles had ever seen. Dealing about $20-30 million in damages, this fire gutted an unfinished downtown Los Angeles apartment complex while damaging three other buildings and shutting down two freeways.

How did I come across this phenomenon? I guess you could call it a combination of a crazy stroke of luck and just being in the right place at the right time. I was visiting Los Angeles with a couple of friends and we had Air BnB’d an artist loft in the outskirts of downtown LA. Late one night, we just decided to climb up the fire escape and onto the roof with all of our camera gear to do a shoot of the beautiful Los Angeles city skyline. When I reached the last step of the ladder, I heard my friend screaming and running across to the other side of the roof . I quickly peaked my head over the ledge to find a huge orange flare of light from the distance. What I saw was unlike anything I had ever witnessed before. A huge fire had entirely engulfed a building. The sky was full of smoke and all I could hear were sirens and the spinning of the helicopter rotors trying to put out the fire. We climbed onto another ledge, which gave us a better view of the action, quickly set up the tripod and proceeded to shoot away.

I remember thinking in my head, what if someone were trapped in this fire? How would I feel if I found out later that someone died that night? Astonished by the huge embers flaring into the night sky, my inner photographer forced me to continue capturing what I saw. My justification was that at least I could document and share this event with others. Luckily, the building was barren and no one was hurt.

The lesson I learned that night was to always be ready. Life sometimes throws you moments without any warning and, as a photographer, it’s my job to be ready for it with camera in hand.

Be Inspired, shoot, and share.

All images by Chris Louie