CGillus Geog. 7: Intro to GIS: Lab 7: Mapping the Station Fire in ArcGIS

Station Fire Report

For this week, we were asked to look at the Station Fire that raged through Los Angeles County from August to October 2009. The fire became the 10^th largest fire in California history dating back to 1933. The Station Fire was the largest in LA County history burning approximately 250 square miles in the San Gabriel Mountains and destroying 209 structures, including 89 homes. While this fire was the most destructive fire of 2009, it wasn’t as deadly as it could have been with only two deaths reported. The main reason that this fire wasn’t as deadly as it could have been is that fire occurred in the Angeles National Forest, which is sparsely populated, especially in comparison with the rest of the county. This may not be so for future fires as human settlement continues to extend into wilderness territory. Lives will be at risk as areas on the edge of a forest will not have a buffer to protect from wildfires.

The initial blaze broke out near a ranger station in the Angeles National Forest close to the Angeles Crest Highway on August 26, 2009. The blaze then spread quickly over the next two days, growing from around 1,000 acres to approximately 36,000 acres. By the third day the fire now burned over 100,000 acres total. There is some controversy over the Forest Service’s response, as critics ask why the blaze wasn’t contained in the first 48 hours when it was more manageable. Nevertheless, the fire spread over the Angeles National Forest eventually pushing toward human settlements in Glendale, Action, Altadena, Littlerock, etc, and eventually threatening neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The fire would be 90 percent contain by the fourth week of September and on October 16^th the fire would be 100 percent contained. By that time the fire had burned over 150,000 acres in Los Angeles County. Luckily the area was a wildland area and thus not heavily populated. However, as the metropolitan area continues to spread out from Los Angeles, settlements will begin to encroach on wildland areas.

The danger of wildfires to homes increases as settlement move toward more rural and wildlife areas. The settlements located on the edge of wildland areas are known as the wildland-urban interface (WUI), where the nature environment and human activity meet. Many homes around the country are located in WUI and aren’t automatically prone to fire danger. It is the unique environment and climate of southern California that make these areas fire-prone. Southern California typically has low rainfall over the course of the year and most years the area is in the middle of the drought. This means the vegetation is very dry and highly susceptible to fire. At the same time the dry vegetation builds up as brush as the vegetation dies and lays scattered. The brush serves as a fast burning fuel for any wildfire that starts in the area. The metropolitan population expanding into the wildland area will be vulnerable to the seasonal wildfires that occur in Southern California.

The dilemma between the expansion of human settlement into wildfire prone areas is a difficult problem to resolve. As the population of Los Angeles continues to increase more land area will be needed to accommodate the growing population. The residents who would want to be furthest from the city will move into WUI areas. However, these areas have a high risk of fire emergencies and a low number of emergency responders per area. At the same time, areas that were previously WUI will become full-fledged suburban areas, at the same time they are still a part of the fire zone where wildfires could expand. The greater number of people in these areas will require increased monitoring of forests for wildfires as well as quick and efficient emergency response. The LA County government officials will be responsible for implementing these changes to prevent large fire disasters in populated areas.

The Station Fire of LA County in 2009 is an important lesson for state, county, and local officials. While being one of the largest fires in state history, it had low property damage and only two fatalities. It can be seen as preparation for the next big fire in LA County where more people will be at risk as development continues. Understanding the risk posed to settlements in WUI areas, the officials can create plans now to protect the most vulnerable in the next fire emergency and have a faster response. This way when the next wildfire hits LA County, heavily populated areas will not be vulnerable to evacuation and destruction.

Station Fire References

· Bloomekatz, Ari B. “Station fire is largest in L.A. County’s modern history” Los Angeles Times, 11/02/2009
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/station-fire-is-largest-in-la-county-history.html

· Cortner, Hanna J., Philip D. Gardner, and Jonathan G. Taylor. “Fire Hazards at the Urban-Wildland Interface: What the Public Expects.” Environmental Management, Vol. 14, pp. 57-62.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/m044577557l323g3/fulltext.pdf

· Hammer, R.B., S.I. Stewart, J.S. Fried, S.S. Holcomb, and J.F. McKeefry. “Wildland-Urban Interface in the United States.” Ecological Applications. Vol. 15(2005): 799-805.
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/documents/The_WUI_in_the_US.pdf

· Pringle, Paul “Cost concerns weakened Forest Service’s assault on Station fire, study says” Los Angeles Times, 10/11/2010
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-station-fire-20101011,0,6110902.story

· “State of the Climate: Wildfires for January 2010,” NOAA National Climatic Data Center, published online Feb. 2010
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/?report=fire&year=2009&month=13

· “Station Fire Final Update Sept. 28, 2009”, InciWeb: Incident Information System, 09/28/2009
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1856/

· “Station Fire Initial Attach Review,” Fire and Aviation Management, United States Department of Agriculture: Forest Service, 11/13/2009
http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2009/releases/11/station-report-11-13-2009.pdf

Station Fire Maps:
Temporal Progression of Station Fire of 2009