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Photos: Laguna Niguel residents return to ruins: ‘30 years’ worth of memories’ consumed by fire

Firefighters battle a brush fire that spread to homes at Coronado Pointe in Laguna Niguel.
Firefighters battle Coastal fire at Coronado Pointe community in Laguna Niguel.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
By Wally Skalij
, Irfan Khan and Carolyn Cole

What started as a small brush fire fueled by coastal winds quickly spread into an upscale Laguna Niguel subdivision, burning at least 20 homes and forcing many to flee.

The Coastal fire grew to 200 acres and underscores the year-round danger of fires in Southern California.

Sassan Darian holds his cat as he assesses the damage outside his father's home
Sassan Darian, 38, holds his cat, Cyrus, as he assesses the damage outside his father’s home on Coronado Pointe.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
Keith and Lynn Morey lost all of their possessions except for their wedding picture.
Keith and Lynn Morey lost all of their possessions except for their wedding picture, which was saved by firefighters.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
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A view of homes still smoldering from the Coastal fire as seen from Talavera Drive in Laguna Niguel.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Ritz Sherman, left, comforts distraught neighbor, Zoey Carpenter.
Ritz Sherman, left, comforts distraught neighbor, Zoey Carpenter. Both were very emotional after seeing destruction in their Coronado Pointe community.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
A plane make a fire retardant drop on a hillside in Laguna Niguel to put out ambers from the Coastal fire.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
People walk along a path behind the homes on Coronado Pointe.
People walk along a path behind the homes on Coronado Pointe. More than 20 homes in Laguna Niguel were destroyed by the Coastal fire, fueled by winds and dry conditions caused by California’s intense drought.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
A family leaves with their suitcases after the Coastal fire destroyed more than 20 homes in Laguna Niguel.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
Matthew Vogel, age 39, crouches in front of his parents home, where he grew up in the Coronado Pointe neighborhood
Matthew Vogel, age 39, crouches in front of his parents home, where he grew up in the Coronado Pointe neighborhood. The home was completely destroyed last night. At least 20 homes in Laguna Niguel were destroyed by fire, fueled by winds and dry conditions caused by California’s intense drought on May 12, 2022.
(Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times)
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A large home continues to smolder from the Coastal fire on Vista Court in Laguna Niguel.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Venus Shafizadah, left, and her husband, Ata, walk by smoldering homes on their home street on Coronado Pointe.
Venus Shafizadah, left, and her husband, Ata, walk by smoldering homes on their home street on Coronado Pointe. The Shafizadah’s were lucky and their home escaped damage from the Coastal fire.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
OCFA Capt. Brian Yau puts caution tape around unsafe homes gutted by Coastal fire in Laguna Niguel.
OCFA Capt. Brian Yau puts caution tape around unsafe homes gutted by Coastal fire in the Coronado Pointe community in Laguna Niguel.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
Flames from the Coastal fire explode from the windows of a home in the Coronado Pointe community in Laguna Niguel.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters hose down homes in the Coronado Pointe community in Laguna Niguel.
Firefighters hose down homes in the Coronado Pointe community in Laguna Niguel.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters battle the Coastal fire in the Coronado Pointe community in Laguna Niguel.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Embers rain down on firefighters battling the Coastal fire in the Coronado Pointe community in Laguna Niguel.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Firefighters direct their hoses on a home on fire in the Coronado Pointe community in Laguna Niguel.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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CaliforniaFires
Wally Skalij

Brian van der Brug was a staff photojournalist at the Los Angeles Times from 1997 to 2025.

Irfan Khan

Irfan Khan was a staff photographer with the Los Angeles Times from 1996 to 2024. He previously served as a freelance photographer for the publication beginning in 1989. Khan started his career as a commercial photographer in 1973 in Pakistan and moved to Dubai in 1977, where he worked for an advertising agency and at a leading English newspaper. Khan’s assignments have taken across Southern California and the U.S. Internationally, he has photographed the Hajj in Saudi Arabia and war zones of the Pakistan/Afghanistan border in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. He was part of the team awarded the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for coverage of the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino. In his spare time, he enjoys listening to semi-classical music of the Indian subcontinent and playing cricket on Sundays.

Carolyn Cole

Carolyn Cole is a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. Her coverage of the civil crisis in Liberia won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. Cole has been named U.S. newspaper photographer of the year three times. Cole grew up in California and Virginia, before attending the University of Texas, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She went on to earn a master of art’s degree from Ohio University.

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