Station Fire (2009)

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2009 wildfire in Southern California

title: "Station Fire (2009)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2009-california-wildfires", "2009-murders-in-the-united-states", "wildfires-in-los-angeles-county,-california", "angeles-national-forest", "san-gabriel-mountains", "california-wildfires-caused-by-arson", "august-2009-crimes-in-the-united-states", "arson-in-2009"] description: "2009 wildfire in Southern California" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Station_Fire_(2009)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 2009 wildfire in Southern California ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox wildfire"]

FieldValue
titleStation Fire
partofthe 2009 California wildfires
imagePyrocumulus Cloud Station Fire 082909.jpg
captionPyrocumulus cloud from the Station Fire, seen from North Hollywood
cost
fatalities2 firefighters
reference
date
locationAngeles National Forest, Flintridge, California
coordinates
pushpin_mapUSA California Southern
area160577 acre
buildings
causearson
::

::callout[type=note] the 2009 wildfire in California ::

| title = Station Fire |partof=the 2009 California wildfires | image = Pyrocumulus Cloud Station Fire 082909.jpg | caption = Pyrocumulus cloud from the Station Fire, seen from North Hollywood | cost = | injuries = | fatalities =2 firefighters | reference = | date = | location = Angeles National Forest, Flintridge, California | coordinates = | pushpin_map = USA California Southern | pushpin_map_caption = | area = 160577 acre | buildings = | cause = arson | landuse = | perps = | motive =

The Station Fire was the largest wildfire of the 2009 California wildfire season. It burned in the Angeles National Forest, igniting on August 26, 2009, near the U.S. Forest Service Angeles Station 11 ranger station on the Angeles Crest Highway, and burned through October 16. It threatened 12,000 structures in the National Forest and the nearby communities of La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, Glendale, Acton, La Crescenta, Juniper Hills, Littlerock and Altadena, as well as the Sunland and Tujunga neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles. Many of these areas faced mandatory evacuations as the flames drew near, but as of September 6, all evacuation orders were lifted. The Station Fire burned on the slopes of Mount Wilson, threatening numerous television, radio and cellular telephone antennas on the summit, as well as the Mount Wilson Observatory, which includes several historically significant telescopes and multimillion-dollar astronomical facilities operated by UCLA, USC, UC Berkeley and Georgia State University.

Progression

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. The two firefighters, supervisors of inmate fire crews (jointly operated by the Los Angeles County Fire Department and California Department of Corrections), had been conducting ignition operations in order to protect personnel and Mt Gleason Camp 16 from the advancing fire front. By September 15, the fire was 91% contained, with full containment expected by September 19. 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 from a powerful storm system passing through. At 160557 acre, the Station Fire was at the time the 9th largest wildfire in modern California history. It remains the largest wildfire in the modern history of Los Angeles County, when measured by burn area, surpassing the 105000 acre Clampitt Fire of September 1970.

The total cost of the firefighting effort amounted to $94.7 million.

Cause

On September 3, officials announced that the Station Fire was caused by arson and that a homicide 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.

Effects

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.

The U.S. Forest Service had banned night flights in wildfires after the death of a helicopter pilot in 1977. But as a result of the Station Fire, several California lawmakers led by Representative Adam Schiff successfully lobbied the U.S. Forest Service to end the ban on night flights, which they did in 2012.

Gallery

File:Stationfire.JPG|The Station Fire burning as seen from Arcadia, California. File:StationFire4Sept.jpg|Progression of the Station Fire through September 4, 2009. Note the huge expansion on August 29. Map courtesy of the United States Forest Service. File:Fires in Los Angeles County-2009.jpg|This near infra-red image shows the extent of the burned area from the Station Fire. File:Southern California Fires (3869161421).jpg|Smoke from fires as seen from the desert to the north.

References

References

  1. "Station Fire".
  2. "InciWeb: Station Fire".
  3. (August 26, 2009). "New fire breaks out near Angeles Crest Highway; forces road closure. Vetter mountain fire lookout tower was also lost in this fire.". [[Pasadena Star-News]].
  4. (September 4, 2009). "Station Fire". [[InciWeb]] ([[United States Forest Service]]).
  5. (August 31, 2009). "Station Fire Evening Update Aug. 31, 2009". [[InciWeb]] ([[United States Forest Service]]).
  6. (September 8, 2009). "Station Fire Morning Update Sept. 8, 2009". [[InciWeb]] ([[United States Forest Service]]).
  7. (August 31, 2009). "TV, cellphone signals from Mt. Wilson at risk". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  8. (September 4, 2009). "Mt. Wilson Observatory Saved From Fire, Others Not So Lucky". wired.com.
  9. (April 30, 2010). "Report cites poor communications, flawed decisions in two Station fire deaths". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  10. "Los Angeles County Fire Department - Air & Wildland - Fire Camps".
  11. "Arnaldo Quinones & Tedmund D. Hall".
  12. [http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/9535/ Station Fire Update Sept. 15]. [[InciWeb]].
  13. (September 3, 2009). "20 Largest California Wildland Fires (By Acreage Burned)". [[California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection]].
  14. (August 2010). "Large Fire Cost Review for FY2009". [[United States Forest Service]].
  15. Winton, Richard. (September 4, 2009). "Substance found near Station fire ignition point is key evidence in arson probe". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  16. (31 August 2017). "Eight Years Later: Remembering the Station Fire".
  17. Weikel, Dan. (September 4, 2009). "Angeles Crest Highway closed indefinitely because of fire". Los Angeles Times.
  18. (26 May 2010). "Congressman seeks night flights to battle fires".
  19. (16 August 2012). "Archives".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

2009-california-wildfires2009-murders-in-the-united-stateswildfires-in-los-angeles-county,-californiaangeles-national-forestsan-gabriel-mountainscalifornia-wildfires-caused-by-arsonaugust-2009-crimes-in-the-united-statesarson-in-2009