A year ago today, at about 3:30 PM, a person still unknown started the largest fire in Angeles National Forest history. It was not fully contained until Oct. 16, and was finally declared over after the rainy season began.
The Station Fire devastated 250 square miles of forest, endangered homes and communities, almost destroyed the historic observatories and critical broadcast towers on Mt. Wilson, and took the lives of two firefighters, Tedmund D. “Ted” Hall and Arnaldo “Arnie” Quinones.
Our first entry about the fire was made the evening it started, when no one had any idea what was going to happen. We had our own concerns the following day that kept our attention elsewhere.
But by Friday, Aug. 28, there was no escaping it. By Friday afternoon, we were devoting major coverage to it, going on into Friday evening, when two homes were ordered evacuated in the Meadows -- the first of the local evacuations.
The Station Fire in the hills behind the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Photo by Bill Westphal.
On Sat., Aug. 29, we were devoting full coverage to the Station Fire, and getting reports from readers in the neighborhoods, who were sending us real-time information. On Sunday, we removed moderation from comments, because things were happening too quickly and our readers were sending vast amounts of critical information about how the fire was affecting us. With disinterest from the broadcast media on local conditions (except largely for KPCC), Altadenablog quickly became the "go-to" site for fire information.
By Monday, Aug. 31, we were getting so much news and so many comments that it was upsetting our provider's blogging program and we had to split the entries into AM and PM.
By the morning of Sept. 1, altho' the battle for Mt. Wilson and other parts of the forest was still raging, things were calming down in Altadena as many evacuated residents returned home, albeit with the knowledge that they may have to flee again. In the evening report, at least things calmed down enough we could take a look at the bigger picture of community, and how it was working for us here.
Photos of Dawn Station by reader Tom Willard.
On Wed., Sept. 2, we were told that residents of north Altadena Dr. needed to prepare for possible evacuation --- but by the afternoon, authorities were backpedelling on that. Mt. Wilson continued to be in danger.
By Thurs., Sept. 3, the therapists came out -- stress-relief acupuncture and anger management classes were announced. And by Friday, even as the fire still raged, Altadena was enough out of danger that life - smoky, overcast life -- was beginning to return to normal. On Saturday, talk was turning to forest restoration and worry about the extent of the fire elsewhere.
One year later, we're still living with the effects of the Station Fire. Vast areas of the forest are still closed, and will be for the foreseeable future. Any notice of forest fire draws wide interest, as witnessed in the one acre brushfire in Eaton Canyon earlier this month. A recent drive to Newcomb's Ranch showed us a mix of charred trees and riotously colored wildflowers.
But in this fire, we also showed that cantakerous, contrarian Altadena can also come together as a community in time of need. We wish we didn't have to learn that lesson the way we did -- but it was an important lesson to learn, and practice in the next disaster -- which IS coming!
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Angeles Requiem from Tocho on Vimeo.
