| Station Fire | |
|---|---|
| Part of the2009 California wildfires | |
 Pyrocumulus cloud from the Station Fire, seen fromNorth Hollywood | |
| Date(s) |
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| Location | Angeles National Forest,Flintridge,California |
| Coordinates | 34°15′04″N118°11′42″W / 34.251°N 118.195°W /34.251; -118.195 |
| Statistics[1][2] | |
| Burned area | 160,577 acres (64,983 ha; 251 sq mi; 650 km2) |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 2 firefighters |
| Structures destroyed |
|
| Damage |
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| Ignition | |
| Cause | arson |
| Map | |
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TheStation Fire was the largest wildfire of the2009 California wildfire season. It burned in theAngeles National Forest, igniting on August 26, 2009, near theU.S. Forest Service Angeles Station 11 ranger station on theAngeles Crest Highway,[3][4] and burned through October 16. It threatened 12,000 structures in the National Forest and the nearby communities ofLa Cañada Flintridge,Pasadena,Glendale,Acton,La Crescenta,Juniper Hills,Littlerock andAltadena, as well as theSunland andTujunga neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles.[5] Many of these areas faced mandatory evacuations as the flames drew near, but as of September 6, all evacuation orders were lifted.[6] The Station Fire burned on the slopes ofMount Wilson, threatening numerous television, radio and cellular telephone antennas on the summit, as well as theMount Wilson Observatory, which includes several historically significant telescopes and multimillion-dollar astronomical facilities operated byUCLA,USC,UC Berkeley andGeorgia State University.[7][8]
On August 30, two firefighters, Captain Tedmund Hall and Firefighter Specialist Arnie Quinones, died when their fire truck fell off a steep hillside near Los Angeles County Fire Department Camp 16 by Mt. Gleason during an attempt to set backfires.[9] The two firefighters, supervisors ofinmate fire crews (jointly operated by the Los Angeles County Fire Department and California Department of Corrections[10]), had been conducting ignition operations in order to protect personnel and Mt Gleason Camp 16 from the advancing fire front.[11] By September 15, the fire was 91% contained, with full containment expected by September 19.[12] However, the Station Fire continued to persist into the month of October.
The Station Fire was 100% contained at 7:00 pm PST on Friday, October 16, 2009, due to moderate rainfall froma powerful storm system passing through. At 160,557-acre (251 sq mi; 650 km2), the Station Fire was at the time the 9th largest wildfire in modern California history.[4][13] It remains the largest wildfire in the modern history ofLos Angeles County, when measured by burn area, surpassing the 105,000-acre (164 sq mi; 425 km2)Clampitt Fire of September 1970.
The total cost of the firefighting effort amounted to $94.7 million.[14]: 22
On September 3, officials announced that the Station Fire was caused by arson and that ahomicide investigation had been initiated because of the deaths of the firefighters involved. Investigators discovered a substance at the fire's point of origin which they believe may have accelerated the flames.[15][16]
A 40-mile (64-kilometer) stretch of the Angeles Crest Highway was closed until 2010, due to guardrail and sign damage, although the pavement remained largely intact.[17]
The U.S. Forest Service had banned night flights in wildfires after the death of a helicopter pilot in 1977.[18] But as a result of the Station Fire, several California lawmakers led by RepresentativeAdam Schiff successfully lobbied the U.S. Forest Service to end the ban on night flights, which they did in 2012.[19]
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