Lab 7

Figure A

Figure B

The Station fire in L.A. County was considered to be the biggest and most damaging California wildfire in 2009. From Figure A above, we can see that the earliest affected area (the actual fire was reported at 3:30 p.m. of August 26, 2009) shown on the map, August 29, 2009 at 2:48a.m. started in the Angeles National Forest. The fire then spread North according to Figure A, resulting in huge amounts of damages including deaths of two firefighters and more than 2000 buildings and 10,000 residences were affected. From the reference map (Figure A), we can see how the fire expanded its boundaries from August 29 to September 2 of 2009 rapidly within a week. Since the Station Fire was so devastating, therefore I believe it would be beneficial to look at its effects in both micro and macro scales. Figure B above indicates both the populated areas within 2 miles of the fire perimeter, it also shows three different types of vegetation which had a lot to do with the spread of the fire and also its consequences. This thematic map helps to illustrate my points below.

I used a Digital Elevation Model for both of the maps. Since if we simply look at a map without its elevation information, then we would only be able to know that the fire spread in the Northern direction. But with the help of a DEM (Figure A), we can actually see how the fire expanded to the higher elevation areas in the mountains. On the other hand, Figure B illustrates the vegetation features within the perimeter of the fire. Within the wider boundary, it is densely packed with shrubs and there are also a vast area of conifer and hardwood forests. The Station fire did not spread to the urban areas in the South where there is a lower elevation and the vegetation pattern does not extend. The Northward spread of the fire was due to uphill wind and high temperature, but when we put this map into consideration, we can see that an important factor contributing to this spread was the presence of the dense vegetation layer. The burning of vegetation facilitated the rapid spread of the fire. In this figure, populated places within and near the fire perimeter are illustrated as well. Even though the area within the larger fire boundary consisted a lot of forest area and was not in the urban area, there were still people residing in this area, therefore we can see how the fire negatively affected people living in the area where the fire occurred, but at the same time, it also affected others who lived near the perimeter as illustrated in the figure.

On a micro scale, we can look at the local effects of the Station fire in terms of the population. The populated places illustrated in Figure B are defined as “places with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population” by the Cal-Atlas website (http://atlas.ca.gov/). According to the reported statistics, more than 93 buildings were destroyed by the fire. Therefore people within these populated areas were being directly affected, having to relocate themselves due to the destruction of their buildings. On the other hand, I created a two mile buffer around the perimeter to locate the populated places within two miles of the fire. This would allow us to look at the population in close proximity of the affected area. The people in these areas together with those within the perimeter might be affected directly physically (by the fire itself or by smoke and ash) and psychologically. Overall, the Station fire was devastating to people in a local scale. On the other hand, although not being illustrated in this DEM, wildlife populations might also be affected. When we look at the affected area, the vast vegetation and forest areas suggest a suitable habitat for wildlife. After the fire, this area would be not suitable for wildlife to inhabit anymore, and due to the close proximity to the urban areas, they could not move Southward (it would be hard for them to adapt if moved there), thus they could only move to other vegetated area or Northward to even higher elevations.

On a macro scale, the burning of vegetation by the Station fire led to a wide range of consequences. Since the shrubs were so densely packed together, therefore the fire was able to spread rapidly. Hardwood forests were also present in the affected area, and they constitute a “fire-sensitive community” (http://www.forestencyclopedia.net/p/p162) since thicker trees are able to retain more heat, therefore the fire was able to expand quickly and persist. The burning of the area led to the emission of a lot of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide. As the burnt area was so vast, more than 140686 acres, therefore the amount of “hundreds of years worth of stored carbon dioxide” would definitely be huge and devastating. The emission of aerosol on the other hand created smoke that hindered the rescusing process, but at the same time it could also “influence the formation of clouds and precipitation” (Janha”ll, Andreae, and Poschl 17185). Therefore the burning of dense vegetation could lead to larger climatic consequences.

The two DEMs above provide viewers an overview of how the fire spread and how the different features within and near the boundary of the affected areas could contribute to significant consequences in both micro and macro scales. Despite the simplicity of this map, it is able to provide a clear description of the natural landscape and features of the areas immediately related to area where the Station fire occurred.

Works Cited

Bloomekatz, Ari B. "Station Fire Is Largest in L.A. County's Modern History | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times." Los Angeles Times. 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/station-fire-is-largest-in-la-county-history.html>.

Deioma, Kayte. "California Burning - Station Fire Looms Over LA." Los Angeles Travel - Guide to Los Angeles Travel. 29 Aug. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://golosangeles.about.com/b/2009/08/29/station-fire.htm>.

InciWeb. "InciWeb the Incident Information System: Station Fire." InciWeb the Incident Information System: Current Incidents. 11 Oct. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1856/>.

Janha ̈ll, S., O. Andreae, and U. Po ̈schl. "Biomass Burning Aerosol Emissions from Vegetation Fires: Particle Number and Mass Emission Factors and Size Distributions." (2009): 17183-7217. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/17183/2009/acpd-9-17183-2009.pdf>.

Konoplk, E. "Fire And Northern Hardwood Forests In The Southern Appalachians — Forest Encyclopedia Network." Encyclopedia Collection — Forest Encyclopedia Network. 14 Nov. 2008. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://www.forestencyclopedia.net/p/p162>.

NASA. "NASA - Biomass Burning Fact Sheet." NASA - Home. Feb. 2001. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/factsheets/biomass.html>.

Saugus Union School District. "Station Fire Update for Friday, September 4th." Saugus Union School District. 4 Sept. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://www.saugus.k12.ca.us/station-fire-update-friday-september-4th>.

Wapedia. "Wiki: 2009 California Wildfires." Wapedia. Sept. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2010. <http://wapedia.mobi/en/Station_Fire_(2009)>.