Lab 8: 2009 LA Station Fire

     In 2009, California had multiple wildfires throughout the state. The deadliest was the Station Fire in Los Angeles which was the tenth largest in recent years. It burned about 250 square miles and killed two firefighters. The fire started in the Angeles National Forest in late August and lasted until mid-October. The the fire is suspected to be caused by arson after an investigation near the point of origin.

     Although some wildfires can get out of hand, California wildfires are common and natural to the environment. The Station Fire occurred in a mostly chaparral-type biome which sees a lot of fires; some plant seeds depend on the fires because the seeds would be dormant otherwise. The hot and dry Santa Ana winds that occurs between autumn and winter creates ideal conditions for fire, but the buildup in kindling can cause wildfires to go out of control.

     The buildup of kindling is due to over-efficient control on smaller fires at times, or the conditions were just not right for a wildfire to occur at all. Some chaparral plants have highly flammable leaves which aid in wildfires and that kindling builds up over a few years while smaller fires are unable to burn and get rid of them. There are also causes by arson and by accidents which could set ablaze a wildfire with more than enough fuel to pass the limits within control. Though there are intentional controlled fires to free the buildup of kindling, sometimes the fires become to overwhelming.

     Though, after the fire has done its job as an agent of the biome's homeostasis system, there are concerns of mudslides and landslides, especially in the hilly and mountainous areas. When the land is burned bare of most of the plants whose roots keep the soil very intact, a lot of that soil becomes very loose which could potentially cause a mudslide, especially after heavy rains. The rain runoff downhill carries some of the soil on top which makes the land even more unstable and eventually slide in large amounts.

      The Station Fire has also been of concern because the fire also burned through some urban areas which is at risk of mudslides. The precipitation map shows, on average, the amount of annual rainfall in the affected areas. The numbers are not safely low is most areas. The year following the Station Fire saw a heavy rainstorm throughout LA county which cause multiple scattered mudslides and flooded streets.

         

Works Cited

"2009 California Wildfires." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_California_wildfires. Web.

"After the Station Fire, a New Danger: Mudslides - Latimes.com." Los Angeles Times - California, L.A., Entertainment and World News - Latimes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.

"Fveg02_2_19g." FRAP Data. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.

GRENINGER, MARK. "Station Fire Perimeters." LA County GIS Enterprise. N.p., n.d. Web.

II, Rong-Gong Lin. "'Niagara' of Mud Hits Homes." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 07 Feb. 2010. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.

"LA County Detailed Street Maps." GIS at UCLA: Mapshare DB. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.

"Rain60_1.gdb." FRAP Data. N.p., n.d. Web.