Final Project - Station Fire 2009

Source: Station Fire, Los Angeles (http://blog.flickr.net/en/2009/09/03/station-fire-los-angeles/)

The Station Fire in 2009 began in the north of Los Angeles, Angeles National Forest. The fire was spread out quickly. The fire has burned for more than a month. The fire was the largest and deadliest of the wildfires. It burned 160,577 acres and killed two firefighters (2009 California widfires). The fire began August 26th, 2009 and continued to grow until September 2nd and was not completely contained until October 16th (Angeles National Forest).

Source: Station Fire, Los Angeles (http://blog.flickr.net/en/2009/09/03/station-fire-los-angeles/)

Using ArcGIS as a tool, I made some relative maps for the station fire. I learned more about the station fire while I was making maps. Through the reference map I made, I found out where the fire began and how the perimeter of fire grew. The fire began in the middle of Los Angeles County. It quickly spread north and outwards. 

Reference Map: 2009 Station Fire - LA County

The spread out of fire perimeters from 08/29/09 to 09/02/09

From the map, we can see that the fire perimeter (in red line) on 08/29/09 covered a small area. It grew north and west first, and then it suddenly changed its direction to east. Only in five days, the fire has burned from a small area to an extensive area. Why did the fire spread out so fast? We will find out one of the reason from the next map. 

Fire Perimeter with Fuel Rank

The California Department of Forestry has created a variable called the fuel rank. The department uses this to find out the places where have high potential to grow wildfires. It is ranked on a basis of -1,1,2, and 3. -1 is non-fuel area, 1 is a moderate fuel rank, 2 is a high fuel rank, and 3 is a very high fuel rank. Analyzing the map, we can see that the fire was originally started from a very high fuel rank area. It also spread out in very high fuel rank area too. 

Fire Perimeter with Fuel Surface

Another thematic map tells us the fuel surface of the fire perimeters. As you can see, mainly the tall chaparrals are in the fire perimeters. The chaparral area receives about 38-100 cm of precipitation a year, which makes it most vulnerable to fire in the late summer and fall (Chaparral). Combining the map of fuel rank and fuel surface, we can see that tall chaparrals are in very high fuel rank. 

All in all, we can see that fuel rank and fuel surface are two variables affecting the spread of the fire, but there are more other factors that affect this station fire. The fuel rank and the fuel surface can serve as good indicators of where the fire is going to spread. How can we prevent the wildfire? Residents should not choose around areas with very high fuel rank, also should not plant tall chaparrals around due to its most vulnerable to fire. 

Work Cited:

Angeles National Forest. “Station Fire.” InciWeb. 10 Nov. 2009. Web. 4 June 2011.

          <http://inciweb.org/incident/1856/.>

California Department of Foresty and Fire Protection. "Fuels: Surface Fuels." Fuels: 

          Surface Fuels. 2005.

California Depatment of Foresty and Fire Protection. (2005). Fuel Rank. Fuel 

          Rank . California : California Depatment of Foresty and Fire Protection.

"Chaparral." Wikipedia. 12 sEPT. 2012. Wikimedia Foundation. 13 Dec. 2012
          <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaparral>.

Los Angeles County Enterprise GIS. "Station Fire Perimeters." Los Angeles County
          Enterprise GIS. WordPress & Atahualpa. 2009. Web. 26 May 2011.
          <http://egis3.lacounty.gov/eGIS/?category_name=gis-data>.

Stoddard, Cris. "Station Fire, los Angeles A<<Flickr Blog." Flickr Blog RSS 20. 03 Sept.
          2009. 13 Dec. 2012 <http://blog.flickr.net/en/2009/09/03/station-fire-los-angeles/>.

"2009 California wildfires." Wikipedia. 12 Apr. 2012. Wikimedia Foundation. 13 Dec. 2012
          <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_California_wildfires>.