Geography 7 Assignment 7

The Station fire was the largest, recorded fire in the history of the Angeles National Forest. Over 160,577 acres had burned from August 26, 2009 to September 11, 2009. Structures and homes in the fire’s path burned without hesitation, and out of all the people that helped contain the fire, two people died and 22 were injured. 

The fire broke out on August 26 near the Angeles Crest Highway and continued to spread over the next couple of days towards higher elevation and outwardly to other parts of the mountain. The terrain near Angeles Crest Highway was rugged and steep with mature mixed chaparral vegetation. We will be addressing the chaparral vegetation of the Angeles National Forest and how it can contribute to wildfires.

CA Vegetation

The Angeles National Forest spans 4,000 square miles of which 47% of it is mountainous and the majority of it is covered with chaparral. Before we begin to discuss how chaparral affects wildfires, what is chaparral? Chaparral is a “shrubby” vegetation on the coastal and inland hillsides. Chaparral has two major classifications: soft chaparral (coastal sage shrub) or taller, hard chaparral. It is dominated by evergreen and can range from 1-15 feet tall. Chaparral vegetation tends to grow in dry climates, which is why it is found in the Angeles National Forest. Why does having chaparral vegetation contribute to potential wildfires, such as the Station fire in 2009?

Chaparral’s ability to withstand dry climates comes from their tough, leathery leaves, which help them retain moisture during droughts. Unfortunately, chaparral plant species also contain volatile oils that increase their flammability. The volatile oils may be a preparation for the periodic burning that occurs in chaparral vegetation. Periodic burning is an integral part of chaparral vegetation because the fire will burn dense areas of old chaparral plants allowing new plants to grow. This serves as a problem in the Angeles National Forest because many communities lie in these areas. In the case of the Station fire, communities and dense chaparral vegetation inhibited the burn areas, which were major factors that contributed to the difficulty of containing it. There is not much that can be done once a fire begins, but there are some preventative measures that have been proposed by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD).

In the areas that have been burned, volunteers have gone around the areas and cleaned up any debris and weeds that could lead to potential fires. The LAFD has fire management measures to help prevent wildfires as well, such as mechanical brush removal, biological control, and hand clearing. These are precisely the types of projects we need in the Angeles National Forest because of the chaparral communities. We want the chaparral vegetation to grow and evolve, but all we want is to be able to contain it so that it does not go out of hand. 

References

"A year after Station Fire, botanist, volunteers protect changing forest ecology." Southern California Public Radio. KPCC, Pasadena. 25 Aug. 2010.

Bloomekatz, Ari B. "Station fire is largest in L.A. County's modern history." Los Angeles Times 2 Sep. 2009. 16 Nov. 2010 <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/station-fire-is-largest-in-la-county-history.html>.

"Forestry Vegetation Management." County of Los Angeles Fire Department. 2010. 20 Nov. 2010. <www.fire.lacounty.gov/Forestry/VegetationManagement.asp>.

Kerr, David. "Fire and Management: Station Fire Initial Attack Review." Rev. Of Book, 13 Nov. 2009: 1-72. <http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/station_fire_report.pdf>.

"Station Fire." 10 Nov 2009. http://inciweb.org/incident/1856/ (accessed Nov 19, 2010).