| Rattlesnake Fire | |
|---|---|
 Memorial crosses at the site of the 1953 Rattlesnake Fire | |
| Date(s) |
|
| Location | Powder House Canyon, Mendocino National Forest, California |
| Coordinates | 39°39′19″N 122°38′10″W / 39.65528°N 122.63611°W |
| Statistics | |
| Burned area | 1,300 acres (526 ha; 2 sq mi; 5 km2) |
| Impacts | |
| Deaths | 15 |
| Ignition | |
| Cause | Arson |
| Perpetrator(s) | Stan Pattan |
| Map | |
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The Rattlesnake Fire was a wildfire started by an arsonist on July 9, 1953, in Powder House Canyon on the Mendocino National Forest in northern California. The wildfire killed one Forest Service employee and 14 volunteer firefighters from the New Tribes Mission, and burned over 1,300 acres (530 ha) before it was controlled on July 11, 1953. It became and remains to this day a well-known firefighting textbook case on fatal wildland fires.