2009 California wildfires

2009 California wildfires
Detail from a MODIS satellite image of the Station Fire, on August 29, 2009.
Statistics[2][3]
Total fires9,159
Total area422,147 acres (1,708.37 km2)[1]
Impacts
Deaths4 firefighters
Non-fatal injuriesAt least 134
Damage>$307.4 million (2009 USD)[3]
Season
← 2008
2010 →

The 2009 California wildfires were a series of 9,159 wildfires that were active in the US state of California, during the year 2009.[2][4] The fires burned more than 422,147 acres (660 sq mi; 1,708 km2) of land from early February through late November,[1] due to Red Flag conditions, destroying hundreds of structures, injuring 134 people, and killing four.[5][6] The wildfires also caused at least US$134.48 million in damage. Although the fires burned many different regions of California in August, the month was especially notable for several very large fires which burned in Southern California, despite being outside of the normal fire season for that region.

The Station Fire, north of Los Angeles, was the largest and deadliest of these wildfires. It began in late August, and resulted in the devastation of 160,577 acres (251 sq mi; 650 km2) of land as well as the death of two firefighters. Another large fire was the La Brea Fire, which burned nearly 90,000 acres (141 sq mi; 364 km2) in Santa Barbara County earlier in the month. A state of emergency was also declared for the 7,800-acre (12 sq mi; 32 km2) Lockheed Fire in Santa Cruz County, to the north.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference large-fires was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "National Report of Wildland Fires and Acres Burned by State 2009" (PDF). National Interagency Fire Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b "CAL FIRE 2009 Wildland Fire Summary" (PDF). CalFire. September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 18, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  4. ^ Current Fire Information Archived 2011-02-20 at the Wayback Machine. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Accessed October 29, 2009.
  5. ^ "Wildfire spreads along 241 toll road just east of Anaheim Hills [Updated]". Los Angeles Times. November 24, 2009. Archived from the original on November 28, 2009. Retrieved November 25, 2009.
  6. ^ "Wildland Fire Accidents and Fatalities by Year" (PDF). National Interagency Fire Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 17, 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2015.