Wild Fires to Wild Flowers

The Station Fire on State Route 2 (August 26 – October 16, 2009), 209 structures destroyed, including 89 homes) started in the Angeles National Forest near the U.S. Forest Service ranger station on the Angeles Crest Highway. Two firefighters were killed on August 30 while attempting to escape the flames when their fire truck plunged off a cliff. On September 3, officials announced that the Station Fire was caused by arson and that a homicide investigation had been initiated because of the death of the firefighters involved. Investigators discovered a substance at the fire's point of origin which they believe may have accelerated the flames. At 160,557 acres, the Station Fire is the 10th largest in modern California history, and the largest wildfire in the modern history of Los Angeles County, passing the 105,000-acre (164 sq mi) Clampitt Fire of September 1970.