Station Fire One Year Ago

This is the first year anniversary of Los Angeles' largest wild fire, the Station Fire, which burned over 250 square miles of land and destroyed several mountain homes and structures.

Two L.A. County firefighters also lost their life.

Inquiries by L.A. citizens into why the fire was not contained within the first 48 hours with aerial water drops, there was no high-wind event or excessive heat that drove the slow burning flames, still remain unanswered. The Station fire is believed to be caused by arson.

The fire amazed L.A. citizens with the 25,000 foot giant pyrocumulus clouds that hovered above the city for days making the mountains look like giant volcanoes.

Photos by Ted Soqui © 2010

Video of the Station Fire Burning Unchecked on 8-27-09

Residents of the Station Fire burn area call for a federal probe on why the reaction to the fire took so long. Several Big Tujunga residents claim they lost their homes and cabins due to a slow response by U.S. Forest Service fire fighting authorities.

The Station Fire grew in size overnight due to burning unchecked in the foothills above La Canada.

U.S. Forest Service authorities initially scaled back and underestimated the fire size and danger withholding multiple fire fighting aircraft, which grew to be the largest in LA County history and claimed the lives of two fire fighters. The Station Fire is still burning in the Angeles Forest and is not expected out until the first rain fall. Rain is not expected in the area for another month.

Residents of Big T have set up a blog about the conflagration.

Video Footage by Ted Soqui © 2009

Fire And Rain

Headed up the Angeles Crest Highway with photojournalist Jonathan Alcorn to cover the last gasp of the Station Fire. We drove up to Chilao camp area and a heavy ash color rain began to fall.

Met some hard working "hot shots" from Arizona who were chopping up the excess brush from the roadways of the Angeles Crest highway. The fire began to lay down so we headed to the summit of Mt. Wilson. Everything looked quiet up there, the fire was unable to climb the phoscheck soaked forest.

Our last stop was the Stonyvale area in the Big T area. Started to take photos of a couple of burned out homes. Walked on one to one property and began to feel bad for the owners loss, until I saw a pen of poor kitties that were left to die in the fire. Some of the cats died on the outside of the wire cages, not wanting to leave their friends and fellow felines behind. Broke my heart that someone would leave them to die in the slowest moving fire in history. The home owners made it out okay, why they left my feline friends to die in such a brutal way escapes me. Seeing my fellow felines abandoned will haunt and sadden me for a long time.

Photos by Ted Soqui © 2009

DC10 Phoscheck Drop Near Acton, CA

Video of a DC10 aircraft doing a massive phoscheck drop on the Station fire near the city of Acton, CA.

Footage by Ted Soqui © 2009

Inaugural 747 Phoscheck Drop On Station Fire

A 747 leased from Evergreen Air did it's inaugural live phoscheck drop over the Station fire in the City of Acton today. The 747 jumbo jet did three passes over the live fire. Sorry for the shaky video, did it handheld.

Video footage by Ted Soqui © 2009

Monday's Station Fire Coverage

Started the day with a lunch meal served to me and my friend Jonathan Alcorn by four gentlemen of the C's corp., at the fire command center near Little Tujunga road.

Soon we embarked on a treacherous journey looking to cover and photograph the Station fire, up Little Tujunga road all the way to the 138 near Wrightwood. We crossed the California aqueduct and passed many Joshua trees. Finally we came to an area off the 14 freeway and saw two wide body jumbo jets, one 747 and one DC-10, drop huge loads of red phoscheck on the wild fire. Finally made it up to La Cresenta to watch fire crews stop the flames from burning homes.

Photos by Ted Soqui © 2009

Station Fire Smoke Plume

A smoke plume from the Station Fire far above the Griffith Observatory today. The plumes of ash, smoke, and water vapor can rise up to 20,000 plus feet.

Photo by Ted Soqui © 2009

Smokey Pasadena Morning

Smoke from the Station fire engulfs the city of Pasadena this morning.

Photos by Ted Soqui © 2009

Calling In A Perfect Water Drop

Here what a perfect water drop from a Calfire chopper looks like. This footage was taken today in the arroyo next to eastern La Canada.

Footage by Ted Soqui © 2009

Station Fire Saturday Afternoon

Views of the Station fire burning the La Cresenta Valley area. Smoke columns rose to 25,000 feet over Mt. Lukens. The fire is now two ridges away from entering the city of LA, according to LA Fire dept. officials.

The fire sizzled down the arroyo at the east end of La Canada, just lightly scorching some million dollar properties.

Photos by Ted Soqui © 2009

HTS S-64 Skycrane Water Fill Up

Ever wonder what it's like to be in a full on hurricane? Stand near a S-64 Skycrane helicopter as it fills it's tanks with pond water. Takes about a minute and a half to do, longest minute and a half ever.

Several helicopters used a small pond at a golf course in La Canada to fill up with water to fight the stubborn Station fire.

Footage by Ted Soqui © 2009

Station Fire Day 2

Scenes from the stubborn Station fire burning in the foothills above La Canada.

Photos by Ted Soqui © 2009

La Canada's Conflagration

The Station fire burning in the foothills above La Canada.

Photo and footage by Ted Soqui © 2009