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Evergreen Fire Protection District Jefferson and Clear Creek Counties, Colorado
2020 Evergreen Fire Protection District Jefferson and Clear Creek Counties, Colorado F Community Wildfire Protection Plan EVERGREEN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT COMMUNITY WILDFIRE PROTECTION PLAN 2020 UPDATE Prepared for Evergreen Fire/Rescue 1802 Bergen Pkwy, Evergreen, Colorado 80439 Prepared by Forest Stewards Guild 170 2nd Street SW Loveland, CO 80537 1 CONTENTS Evergreen Fire Protection District ............................................................................................................................1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................5 Evergreen’s Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) .......................................................................................................6 Fire History ..................................................................................................................................................................8 Catastrophic Wildfire – Common Factors .........................................................................................................9 Ignition Prevention ................................................................................................................................................. 10 Evergreen’s Preparedness for Wildfire ................................................................................................................. 11 Community Accomplishments since first CWPP ......................................................................................... -
Geologic Hazards
Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Assessment FINAL Specialist Report – GEOLOGIC HAZARDS Thomas Fire –Los Padres N.F. December, 2017 Jonathan Yonni Schwartz – Geomorphologist/geologist, Los Padres NF Introduction The Thomas Fire started on December 4, 2017, near the Thomas Aquinas College (east end of Sulphur Mountain), Ventura County, California. The fire is still burning and as of December 13, 2017, is estimated to have burned 237,500 acres and is 25% contained. Since the fire is still active, the BAER Team analysis is separated into two phases. This report/analysis covers a very small area of the fire above the community of Ojai, California and is considered phase 1 (of 2). Under phase 1 of this BAER assessment, 40,271 acres are being analyzed (within the fire parameter) out of which 22,971 acres are on National Forest Service Lands. The remaining 17,300 acres are divided between County, City and private lands. Out of a total of 40,271 acres that were analyzed, 99 acres were determined to have burned at a high soil burn severity, 19,243 acres at moderate soil burn severity, 12,044 acres at low soil burn severity and 8,885 acres were unburned. All of the above acres including the unburned acres are within the fire parameter. This report describes and assesses the increase in risk from geologic hazards within the Thomas Fire burned area. When evaluating Geologic Hazards, the focus of the “Geology” function on a BAER Team is on identifying the geologic conditions and geomorphic processes that have helped shape and alter the watersheds and landscapes, and assessing the impacts from the fire on those conditions and processes which will affect downstream values at risk. -
A Classification of US Wildland Firefighter Entrapments Based on Coincident Fuels, Weather, and Topography
fire Article A Classification of US Wildland Firefighter Entrapments Based on Coincident Fuels, Weather, and Topography Wesley G. Page *, Patrick H. Freeborn, Bret W. Butler and W. Matt Jolly USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Missoula Fire Sciences Lab, Missoula, MT 59808, USA; [email protected] (P.H.F.); [email protected] (B.W.B.); [email protected] (W.M.J.) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-406-329-4821 Received: 12 September 2019; Accepted: 5 October 2019; Published: 9 October 2019 Abstract: Previous attempts to identify the environmental factors associated with firefighter entrapments in the United States have suggested that there are several common denominators. Despite the widespread acceptance of the assumed commonalities, few studies have quantified how often entrapments actually meet these criteria. An analysis of the environmental conditions at the times and locations of 166 firefighter entrapments involving 1202 people and 117 fatalities that occurred between 1981 and 2017 in the conterminous United States revealed some surprising results. Contrary to general assumptions, we found that at broad spatial scales firefighter entrapments happen under a wide range of environmental conditions, including during low fire danger and on flat terrain. A cluster-based analysis of the data suggested that entrapments group into four unique archetypes that typify the common environmental conditions: (1) low fire danger, (2) high fire danger and steep slopes, (3) high fire danger and low canopy cover, and (4) high fire danger and high canopy cover. There are at least three important implications from the results of this study; one, fire environment conditions do not need to be extreme or unusual for an entrapment to occur, two, the region and site specific context is important, and, three, non-environmental factors such as human behavior remain a critical but difficult to assess factor in wildland firefighter entrapment potential. -
WRF Simulation of Downslope Wind Events in Coastal Santa Barbara County
UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Barbara Previously Published Works Title WRF simulation of downslope wind events in coastal Santa Barbara County Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8h89t6zv Journal ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH, 191 ISSN 0169-8095 Authors Cannon, Forest Carvalho, Leila MV Jones, Charles et al. Publication Date 2017-07-15 DOI 10.1016/j.atmosres.2017.03.010 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Atmospheric Research 191 (2017) 57–73 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Atmospheric Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atmosres WRF simulation of downslope wind events in coastal Santa Barbara County Forest Cannon a,b,⁎, Leila M.V. Carvalho a,b, Charles Jones a,b,ToddHallc,DavidGombergc, John Dumas c, Mark Jackson c a Department of Geography, University of California Santa Barbara, USA b Earth Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, USA c National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, Los Angeles/Oxnard Weather Forecast Office, USA article info abstract Article history: The National Weather Service (NWS) considers frequent gusty downslope winds, accompanied by rapid Received 13 June 2016 warming and decreased relative humidity, among the most significant weather events affecting southern Califor- Received in revised form 6 March 2017 nia coastal areas in the vicinity of Santa Barbara (SB). These extreme conditions, commonly known as “sun- Accepted 9 March 2017 downers”, have affected the evolution of all major wildfires that impacted SB in recent years. Sundowners Available online 10 March 2017 greatly increase fire, aviation and maritime navigation hazards and are thus a priority for regional forecasting. -
Wildland Fire in Ecosystems: Effects of Fire on Fauna
United States Department of Agriculture Wildland Fire in Forest Service Rocky Mountain Ecosystems Research Station General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-42- volume 1 Effects of Fire on Fauna January 2000 Abstract _____________________________________ Smith, Jane Kapler, ed. 2000. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on fauna. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 1. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 83 p. Fires affect animals mainly through effects on their habitat. Fires often cause short-term increases in wildlife foods that contribute to increases in populations of some animals. These increases are moderated by the animals’ ability to thrive in the altered, often simplified, structure of the postfire environment. The extent of fire effects on animal communities generally depends on the extent of change in habitat structure and species composition caused by fire. Stand-replacement fires usually cause greater changes in the faunal communities of forests than in those of grasslands. Within forests, stand- replacement fires usually alter the animal community more dramatically than understory fires. Animal species are adapted to survive the pattern of fire frequency, season, size, severity, and uniformity that characterized their habitat in presettlement times. When fire frequency increases or decreases substantially or fire severity changes from presettlement patterns, habitat for many animal species declines. Keywords: fire effects, fire management, fire regime, habitat, succession, wildlife The volumes in “The Rainbow Series” will be published during the year 2000. To order, check the box or boxes below, fill in the address form, and send to the mailing address listed below. -
Evaluating the Ability of FARSITE to Simulate Wildfires Influenced by Extreme, Downslope Winds in Santa Barbara, California
fire Article Evaluating the Ability of FARSITE to Simulate Wildfires Influenced by Extreme, Downslope Winds in Santa Barbara, California Katelyn Zigner 1,* , Leila M. V. Carvalho 1,2 , Seth Peterson 1, Francis Fujioka 3, Gert-Jan Duine 2 , Charles Jones 1,2, Dar Roberts 1,2 and Max Moritz 1,2,4 1 Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA; [email protected] (L.M.V.C.); [email protected] (S.P.); [email protected] (C.J.); [email protected] (D.R.); [email protected] (M.M.) 2 Earth Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA; [email protected] 3 CEESMO, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA; [email protected] 4 University of California Cooperative Extension, Agriculture and Natural Resources Division, Oakland, CA 94607, USA * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 12 June 2020; Accepted: 7 July 2020; Published: 10 July 2020 Abstract: Extreme, downslope mountain winds often generate dangerous wildfire conditions. We used the wildfire spread model Fire Area Simulator (FARSITE) to simulate two wildfires influenced by strong wind events in Santa Barbara, CA. High spatial-resolution imagery for fuel maps and hourly wind downscaled to 100 m were used as model inputs, and sensitivity tests were performed to evaluate the effects of ignition timing and location on fire spread. Additionally, burn area rasters from FARSITE simulations were compared to minimum travel time rasters from FlamMap simulations, a wildfire model similar to FARSITE that holds environmental variables constant. Utilization of two case studies during strong winds revealed that FARSITE was able to successfully reconstruct the spread rate and size of wildfires when spotting was minimal. -
2016 ODF Protection Fire Season Report
PROTECTION FROM FIRE FIRE SEASON REPORT 2016 Protecting Oregon’s forestlands from fire through a complete and coordinated system. TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Protection Division at a glance _________________________________________________ 3 Fire Season Overview_________________________________________________________ 4 Fire Season at a glance _______________________________________________________ 5 Wildfire causes and prevention ________________________________________________ 10 Fire Operations ____________________________________________________________ 13 Equipment Pool ____________________________________________________________ 17 Smoke Management ________________________________________________________ 19 Fire investigation ___________________________________________________________ 22 Agency Contact Information __________________________________________________ 23 FIRE SEASON 2016 REPORT MISSION AND STRATEGY The mission of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Fire Protection Division is to protect more than 16 million acres of private and public forestland in Oregon from wildfire. This is accomplished through a complete and coordinated system that brings together the personnel and other resources of the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) with: other state agencies city fire departments • rural fire protection districts • rangeland protection associations • federal wildfire agencies • contractors • forest landowners • •As the largest fire department in Oregon, the Division’s over-arching goal is to minimize cost and loss through -
Fire Protection
3.6 FIRE PROTECTION 3.6 FIRE PROTECTION The following section describes fire protection resources and issues for the existing conditions of the subject site and vicinity; and evaluates impacts of the proposed project on these resources. Fire protection resources include the entities tasked with combating fires, infrastructure that assists those entities, and site conditions that contribute to or diminish the danger of fire. Fire protection issues in the eastern Montecito consist of high fire hazards related to wildfires and the distance of existing residences from fire stations, as well as their length of emergency response times. Assessment of fire protection issues is based upon a range of sources. These include the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1710, Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments. In addition, information and standards were also obtained from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), as well as the Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) and Los Padres National Forest. Montecito Fire Protection District (MFPD) staff was consulted regarding fire protection and response time issues. Finally, this section also includes updated information from the MFPD’s 2014 Standards of Coverage Study and Risk Assessment (MFPD 2014). 3.6.1 Existing Conditions 3.6.1.1 Regional Fire Danger On average, a major wildland fire occurs in the Santa Barbara area approximately every 3.5 years (Table 3.6-1). As a result of weather conditions, plant types, and past fire management policies, the Santa Ynez Mountains and surrounding area have a very high risk of fire. -
Los Angeles County Fire Department 2020 Strategic Fire Plan
Los Angeles County Fire Department 2020 Strategic Fire Plan UNIT STRATEGIC FIRE PLAN AMENDMENTS Pl Section Updated Page Numbers Description of Update Updated Updated By Note: (Previous 2019 Deletions will not be found in new version. Version/Current Page number updated is not the same page 2020 Version) number as the section updated (where the section actually starts). 4/7/20 Cover Page Cover/Cover Replace cover page with current Fire History Map Fire Plan Unit Signature Page, reformat, updated information 4/7/20 Signature Page 1 Fire Plan Unit 4/7/20 Executive Summary 2/2 New Web link Fire Plan Unit Delete Fire History Map 4/8/20 Section 1: Unit Overview 5/5 Fire Plan Unit Updated numbers for Department 4/8/20 Section 1: Unit Overview 6/5 Fire Plan Unit Section 1: Unit Overview 4/8/20 7/7 Grammar corrections in last two paragraphs Fire Plan Unit Section 1: Unit Overview New Message from the Fire Chief / 4/8/20 8/8-9 Fire Plan Unit New organization chart Section 1: Unit Overview Paragraph 4 and 5 revised / insert New link 4/8/20 9/10 Fire Plan Unit Section 1: Unit Overview Last paragraph, grammar “providing” 4/8/20 10/11 Fire Plan Unit Section 1: Fire History Insert Fire History Maps 5/15/20 11/13 Fire Plan Unit Section 1: The Wildfire First paragraph, last sentence, insert 4/8/20 12/14 Fire Plan Unit Environment “wildfire environment,” “that determine fire behavior when fuels ignite” Section 1: Unit Preparedness Update current numbers 4/8/20 13/15 Fire Plan Unit and firefighting capabilities Section 2: Collaboration First paragraph, -
Twenty-First Century California, USA, Wildfires: Fuel-Dominated Vs. Wind- Dominated Fires Jon E
Keeley and Syphard Fire Ecology (2019) 15:24 Fire Ecology https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-019-0041-0 FORUM Open Access Twenty-first century California, USA, wildfires: fuel-dominated vs. wind- dominated fires Jon E. Keeley1,2* and Alexandra D. Syphard3 Abstract Since the beginning of the twenty-first century California, USA, has experienced a substantial increase in the frequency of large wildfires, often with extreme impacts on people and property. Due to the size of the state, it is not surprising that the factors driving these changes differ across this region. Although there are always multiple factors driving wildfire behavior, we believe a helpful model for understanding fires in the state is to frame the discussion in terms of bottom-up vs. top-down controls on fire behavior; that is, fires that are clearly dominated by anomalously high fuel loads from those dominated by extreme wind events. Of course, this distinction is somewhat artificial in that all fires are controlled by multiple factors involving fuels, winds, and topography. However, we believe that fires clearly recognizable as fuel-dominated vs. wind-dominated provide interesting case studies of factors behind these two extremes. These two types of fires differ greatly in their (1) geographical distribution in the state, (2) past fire history, (3) prominent sources of ignition, (4) seasonal timing, (5) resources most at risk, and (6) requirement for different management responses. Keywords: fire prevention, fire suppression, fuel loads, house protection, land planning, North Winds, population growth, Santa Ana Winds, silvicultural practices Resumen Desde comienzos del siglo veinte, California, EEUU, ha experimentado un incremento substancial en la frecuencia de grandes incendios, frecuentemente con grandes impactos en la gente y en las propiedades. -
Painted Cave Defensible Space Emergency Project
GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor WADE CROWFOOT, Secretary for Natural Resources June 18, 2019 Chief Porter, Director Department of Forestry and Fire Protection 1416 9th Street, Suite1505 Sacramento, CA 95814 Re: Painted Cave Defensible Space Emergency Project Dear Chief Porter, On March 22, 2019, Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency involving forest conditions near vulnerable communities. The proclamation enables the Secretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency or Natural Resources Agency to suspend State environmental statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements to the extent necessary to complete priority fuel management projects started this calendar year. In considering whether to suspend any requirements, the Secretaries must determine that the proposed activities are eligible to be conducted under this suspension and will take protection of the environment into account while ensuring timely implementation. CAL FIRE has requested suspension of Division 13 (commencing with section 21000) of the Public Resources Code and regulations adopted pursuant to that Division, commonly known as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), for the Painted Cave Defensible Space Emergency Project, which is one of the thirty-five priority projects identified in the Community Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Report (February 22, 2019). Project Description The Painted Cave Defensible Space Emergency Project is a 67 acre, 6.8-mile long project of roadside fuels reduction and strategic fuel breaks to protect Painted Cave and neighboring communities in Santa Barbara County. This project focuses fuel reduction efforts in a community that has been threatened by multiple fires over the years including the Zaca, Whittier, White, Rey, Gap and Jesusita Fires. The 1990 Painted Cave Fire started just south of this community destroying 660 homes. -
Why Large Wildfires in Southern California? Refuting the Fire Suppression Paradigm
5 Why Large Wildfires in Southern California? Refuting the Fire Suppression Paradigm Richard W. Halsey California Chaparral Institute Dylan Tweed California Chaparral Institute Abstract This paper examines the common belief that past fire suppression and “unnatural” fuel build-up are responsible for large, high-intensity fires in southern California. This has been characterized as the fire suppression paradigm or the southern/Baja California fire mosaic hypothesis. While the belief is frequently repeated by the popular media and has been cited in land/fire management documents, support in the scientific community for the hypothesis has been generally restricted to the original author (Minnich 1983) and his students. A significant number of scientists have raised serious questions about the hypothesis. These scientists offer substantial scientific evidence that the fire mosaic hypothesis should be rejected and that fire suppression has not had a significant impact on fire size, intensity, or frequency in shrubland- dominated wildland fires in southern California. The management implications of this research are important because past fire suppression impacts have been used to justify fuel treatment projects on federal, state, and private lands for the purposes of fire risk reduction and the enhancement of wildlife habitat. Keywords: mosaic, fire suppression, chaparral, southern California shrublands, Baja California, wildfire. Introduction Science reliably overturns our intuitions about how the natural world works. Although it is possible for intuitions to be correct, intuition alone is not sufficient evidence that a testable claim is true. If this were not the case, we would still accept the intuition that the sun revolves around the earth or that the earth itself is flat.