Lab #7 Station Fire

Los Angeles County Station Fire

August-September 2009

 

 

                The Los Angeles County Station Fire of August and September 2009 was the largest and most threatening forest fire California has ever seen. It burned roughly 160,600 acres and cost nearly 94 million dollars to fight and contain. All firefighters worked around the clock and risked their lives for the safety of others. Because of climate and elevation, the Station fire posed a major threat to the nearby communities and caused the shutdown of roads within the fires extent.  

                As seen in the Station Fire Extent reference map, the fire that started on August 26, 2009, had burned a total of 1,174 in just one day. By September 2, it had burned 144,121 acres of land in just one week (File:StationFire4Sept.jpg 2009).  Although it was revealed that the fire was started by arson, a major reason the fire burned so quickly was because of California’s chapparal vegetation cover along with “bone dry conditions.” (CNN). Chaparral vegetation cover is a combination of plants that are very dry and bush-like in nature and make for really good fire fuel. California is covered with it (“Fire & Nature”). Because of the dry vegetation, the fire was able to spread so quickly. Furthermore, the weather conditions reported on August 29, 2009 were “bone-dry conditions” and did not get better for the next five days. Furthermore, this fire was unpredictable because “the fire [had] sent plumes of thick smoke spiraling as much as 20,000 feet into the air [and created] its own wind patterns” (CNN). A major reason the extent of the fire was so severe was due to in part the conditions and vegetation cover of Southern California

                Another reason the fire was so severe was elevation. Because the fire burned in the Mountains, there were many slopes the fire could jump to. Looking at the elevation map, it is noticeable that the elevation ranges from about sea level to approximately 3,000 feet. Area near where the fire started (August 26, 2009) is at a lower elevation. The direction of which the fire spread is up the slopes of the mountain and towards the highest elevation. Areas near Mount Wilson experienced severe damage (InciWeb). This is because fires burn a lot easier going uphill, because gravity helps lift the fire up. Therefore, the fire burned so quickly because it easily worked its way up hill. Furthermore, the fire also burned so quickly and to a large extent because the mountainous terrain made it even harder for the firefighters to help contain it. Two weeks into the fire, it was only 62% contained (L.A. Now) because of climate and elevation factors working in favor of the fire.

                Because this fire was so large and burned acres so quickly, it posed a threat to the nearby communities and caused roads to be closed. The areas that were threatened were La Canada Flintridge, Glendale, Acton, La Crescenta, Littlerock, and Altadena, as well as Sunland  and Tujunga neighborhoods of the City of Los Angeles (2009 California wildfires). Within these areas, thousands of structures were threatened. About 209 residences, commercial property, and outbuildings were destroyed (Inciweb). A major problem for people driving, was that many roads were closed. Mapped above are the major roads of the area near the fire. Of the roads closed were the Angeles Crest Highway (Highway 2) and Azusa Canyon (Highway 39). These roads act as passageways through the mountains, therefore people wanting to drive through had to go around. Other roads closed were Normanton Drive, Earnslow Drive, Fairhurst Drive, Rock Castle Drive, Canalda Drive and Ocean View Boulelvard north of Canalda Drive, in La Canada Flintridge and people living on those roads were evacuated (“Listown.com”). These areas were closed as a result of the largest fire Los Angeles has ever seen many people were endangered because of its severity.

                The Station Fire took nearly seven weeks to completely stop burning because of the dry climate and elevation factors. During this time, many people, homes, communities, and wildlife were put at risk due to the flames raging across their familiar land. As a result of the fire, some homes were permanently damaged and destroyed and many roads were impaired. This made a huge impact on the communities surrounding the Station Fire for many months after.

Works Cited 

"2009 California wildfires ." Wikipedia. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_California_wildfires#Los_Angeles_County>

CNN. "'Angry Fire' roars across 100,000 California acres." Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (2009): n. pag. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://articles.cnn.com/2009-08-31/us/california.wildfires_1_mike-dietrich-firefighters-safety-incident-commander/2?_s=PM:US>.

"File:StationFire4Sept.jpg." Wikipedia. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:StationFire4Sept.jpg>.

"Fire and Nature ." Wild Fire in the Chaparral . California Chaparral Institute, 2010. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.californiachaparral.com/firenature.html>.

Inciweb. "Station Fire News Release." InciWeb the Incident Information System (2009): n. pag. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.inciwed.org/incident/article/9549>

L.A. Now, . "Crews try to construct line around Station fire." Los Angeles Times. (2009): n. pag. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/station-fire-1.html>.

"LA Station Fire 2009." Listown.com. listown.com Inc. , 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.listown.com/group/la-station-fire-2009-6336>.