Station Fire was the largest wildfire of the 2009 California wildfire season , as well as the largest wildfire in the history of Los Angeles County , that burned in the Angeles National Forest , igniting on August 26 , 2009 near the U.S. Forest Service ranger station on the Angeles Crest Highway . Two firefighters , Captain Tedmund Hall and Firefighter Specialist Arnie Quinones , died on August 30 , when their fire truck plunged off a cliff during an attempt to set backfires to slow the blaze . The blaze 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 , destroying numerous television , radio and cellular telephone antennas on the summit , and threatened 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 . 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
2009 California wildfire season
2009 California wildfires
Station Fire (2009)