The "Station Fire" is the wildfire
started from August 26th, 2009, in Angeles National Forest near Los
Angeles. It was 100% contained on October 16th, due to moderate
rainfall in the San Gabriel Mountains. Caused by arson, the wildfire influenced
160,577 acres of land and is the largest wildfire in the modern history of Los
Angeles County. 209 structures destroyed,
including 89 homes, and two firefighters were killed during the accident. The
neighbors affected were angry about fire station’s failure to control the fire
within the 48 hours from origin.
The first two maps I produced present the progression of the
fire. The first map presents the fire with roads and high ways of grey lines,
and the second map presents the fire with retail centers of black dots. The
fire is presented in a series of red of polygon. The darkest red presents the
land influenced by the fire on Aug 28th, and the larger circles
successively represent that on Aug 29th, Aug 30th, Aug 31st,
and Sep 1st. We can see that the fire was completely manageable in
the first two days, but because of the failure to control it, the fire expanded
dramatically on the third day.
We can see from the first two maps that the origin of fire
is a place with few retail centers and roads, which indicates that people are
seldom living there and that may explain why the fire was discovered late and
the fire station doesn’t put all the efforts into the fire suppression.
However, as the fire expanded, it started to influence neighborhoods in the
vicinity of the forest. Residences were complaining and that drew mass media’s
attention. And because of the death of the two firefighters, homicide
investigation was brought in.
The third map shows the fire with fire hazard severity zones
in DEM slope version. PRC 4201-4204 and Govt. Code 51175-89 direct the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) to map areas of
significant fire hazards based on fuels, terrain, weather, and other relevant
factors. These zones, referred to as Fire Hazard Severity Zones (FHSZ), then
define the application of various mitigation strategies to reduce risk
associated with wildfires. State Responsibility Area (SRA) was originally
mapped in 1985 and has not been updated since, except with respect to changes
in SRA boundaries. Local Responsibility Areas (LRA) were originally mapped in
1996, and also has not been updated since. We can see from the map that the
station fire area wasn’t included in the severity zone, and that may explain
the lack of fire suppression ability then. The fire reminds us that the
disaster zoning should be revised regularly and the real-time satellite monitor
should be brought in.
In conclusion, although the wildfire could be largely due to
the unusual weather, there’re still lots of reasons why fire stations and
government should be blamed. The disaster response and policy in California
should be reconsidered to avoid the similar case from happening, and we also
should pay attention to the post-disaster recovery.
Reference:
[1] Fire Hazard Severity Zone Re-Mapping Project, California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 2008
[2] CalFire incident information, Incident Information
System, 2009
[3] 'Angry fire' roars across 100,000 California acres, CNN, August 31, 2009
[4] Station Fire Recovery, United States Department of
Agriculture, 2011
[5] US Senate Station Fire Investigation, 2009
Note: references are from government and media internet, with unknown writers.
Note: references are from government and media internet, with unknown writers.
