California Wildfires 11.16.18 Update
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CAL FIRE California Climate Investments (CCI) Program - Forest Health Research Grant Applications -- FY 2020/2021 2021/2022
CAL FIRE California Climate Investments (CCI) Program - Forest Health Research Grant Applications -- FY 2020/2021 2021/2022 Requested Research Project ID Applying Organization Project Title County Brief Project Description Funds Project Type We leverage two existing long-term studies, Treatment Alternatives for Young Stand Resilience and Fire-Fire Surrogate, at Blodgett Experimental Forest to determine how prescribed fire Influence of prescribed burn season on tree season and forest age influence tree survival, soil microbial University of California, 20-RP-AEU-078 survival, soil microbial resilience, and carbon El Dorado $500,000 resilience, carbon strength, and greenhouse gas (GHG) General Riverside cycling in mixed conifer forests emissions in mixed conifer forests. Our team will address whether conducting prescribed fires in spring vs. fall reduces or exacerbates GHG emissions to help inform forest management plans. Fire weather forecasts are typically available for the next 7-14 days. This study will develop and extend fire weather forecast capability out to 6 weeks (i.e., subseasonal time scale), from Development of Subseasonal Fire Weather seven global forecast models. Machine learning will help quantify 20-RP-AEU-118 University of Miami Forecasts for Prescribed Fire and Wildfire Statewide $500,000 and improve forecast reliability and accuracy. A prototype system General Decision Support: Accuracy and Reliability will issue real-time forecasts to the public via a web application, which will allow for improved allocation of resources, planning, and public messaging for land and air managers, emergency response, and other stakeholders. This project will investigate fire spread between discrete fuels separated by a gap, specifically between discrete pieces of vegetation and between vegetation and structures through Worcester Polytechnic Development of Engineering Tools for Exposure 20-RP-AEU-172 Amador $500,000 experiments and modeling. -
The Northern California 2018 Extreme Fire Season
THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA 2018 EXTREME FIRE SEASON Timothy Brown, Steve Leach, Brent Wachter, and Billy Gardunio Affiliations: Brown – Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada; Leach – Bureau of Land Management, Redding, California; Wachter – USDA Forest Service, Redding, California; Gardunio – USDA Forest Service, Redding, California. Corresponding Author: Timothy Brown, [email protected] INTRODUCTION. The fire season of 2018 was the most extreme on record in Northern California in terms of the number of fatalities (95), over 22,000 structures destroyed, and over 600,000 hectares burned (https://www.fire.ca.gov/media/5511/top20_destruction.pdf; accessed November 24, 2019). The most deadly and destructive fire in California history, the Camp Fire, occurred in Butte County in the Sierra Nevada foothills in early November, and caused 85 fatalities and destroyed nearly 19,000 structures. The largest fire complex in state history, the Mendocino Complex, which included the Ranch fire, the largest single fire in state history, burned nearly 186,000 hectares. It occurred in July and August killing one fire fighter. In western Shasta County nearly 138,000 hectares burned from July through September in the Carr, Hirz, and Delta Fires. These fires caused multiple closures of Interstate 5 and exhibited some of the most extreme fire behavior ever observed in California. The Carr Fire caused eight fatalities, including two fire fighters and two workers supporting firefighting efforts, burned over 1,100 homes in west Redding, caused the evacuation of one-third of the city, and produced an extreme fire vortex with an Enhanced Fujita scale rating between 136 to 165 mph, making it arguably the 1 strongest tornado type event in state history, and one of the strongest documented cases in the world (Lareau et al. -
Becerra Wants to Block Release of Woolsey Fire Origin Report
dailyjournal.com Becerra wants to block release of Woolsey Fire origin report 4-5 minutes Seven months before the first trial is scheduled to begin related to the Woolsey wildfire in Southern California, Attorney General Xavier Becerra is seeking to block the release of a fire department report on the cause of the blaze. "Hastily allowing the premature disclosure of the contents of the criminal investigation file would significantly undermine the law enforcement process in this case," states a motion filed by Deputy Attorney General Alexander Fisch. The Woolsey Fire burned 96,949 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties in November 2018. Southern California Edison Co.'s equipment has been blamed by some plaintiffs' attorneys for the fire, and the company is facing thousands of civil claims. All cases are coordinated and heard before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William F. Highberger. The Ventura County Fire Protection District, with the help of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, investigated the cause and origin of the fire. Fisch, who is representing Cal Fire, filed the motion to quash Aug. 30 and is joined by Baron & Budd PC lawyers Scott Summy, John P. Fiske and Victoria E. Sherlin, who are representing the county of Ventura, its fire protection district and other public entities. They argued the report should remain confidential until the state completes its review and determines whether criminal charges should be brought against Edison. The motion cited a case of parents who were suspects in the murder of their toddler and sued to get information relating to the investigation. -
Flash Point the Official Publication of the San Luis Obispo Fire Investigation Strike Team, Inc
Flash Point The Official Publication of the San Luis Obispo Fire Investigation Strike Team, Inc. In this issue Forensic Fire Death Investigation Class 2018 FFDIC Progress Report Proctor Profiles John Madden Awards Active Arson Cases Carr Fire Jeremy Stoke SLOFIST Executive Board John Madden, CEO Barb Kessel, CFO Dr. Elayne Pope, Chief of Train- ing Another successful class with live fire demonstrations in San Luis Obispo. Dr. Robert Kimsey, Secretary- Students from all over the world came to attend the week long class. A spe- Forensic Sciences Director cial thank you to all the proctors and logistical support staff who made this Tim Eckles, Chief of Safety another great workshop. Dennis Byrnes, Chief of Logistics Jeff Zimmerman. Editor SLOFIST is a 501 © (3) Non-profit organization Box 1041, Atascadero, CA 93423 Www.slofist.org Copyright 2018 SLOFIST Inc. Class Objectives Met with Great Results According to John Madden this was the best class so far. A special thank you SLOFIST Directors to all the proctors and logistical support staff who made this another great Jeremy Davis, Chairman of BOD workshop. Hours of preparation made the program run smoothly . The pro- Eric Emmanuelle, Director posed dates for next years class is June 24-28, 2019, please mark your cal- Jeremy Kosick, Director, Web Master endars and plan on attending. Dr. Alison Galloway, Director Several students had the op- Danielle Wishon, Director portunity to explore career options in both the fire ser- vices and law enforcement fields. Intern Lovey Corneil got to suit up and extinguish one of the live burns and at- tack a fire with CDC fire crew in full PPE. -
Review of California Wildfire Evacuations from 2017 to 2019
REVIEW OF CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE EVACUATIONS FROM 2017 TO 2019 STEPHEN WONG, JACQUELYN BROADER, AND SUSAN SHAHEEN, PH.D. MARCH 2020 DOI: 10.7922/G2WW7FVK DOI: 10.7922/G29G5K2R Wong, Broader, Shaheen 2 Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. UC-ITS-2019-19-b N/A N/A 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Review of California Wildfire Evacuations from 2017 to 2019 March 2020 6. Performing Organization Code ITS-Berkeley 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report Stephen D. Wong (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3638-3651), No. Jacquelyn C. Broader (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3269-955X), N/A Susan A. Shaheen, Ph.D. (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3350-856X) 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. Institute of Transportation Studies, Berkeley N/A 109 McLaughlin Hall, MC1720 11. Contract or Grant No. Berkeley, CA 94720-1720 UC-ITS-2019-19 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period The University of California Institute of Transportation Studies Covered www.ucits.org Final Report 14. Sponsoring Agency Code UC ITS 15. Supplementary Notes DOI: 10.7922/G29G5K2R 16. Abstract Between 2017 and 2019, California experienced a series of devastating wildfires that together led over one million people to be ordered to evacuate. Due to the speed of many of these wildfires, residents across California found themselves in challenging evacuation situations, often at night and with little time to escape. These evacuations placed considerable stress on public resources and infrastructure for both transportation and sheltering. -
2416 Cades Way Vista, California 92081 (760) 599–1813 David
20190628-5298 FERC PDF (Unofficial) 6/28/2019 4:41:30 PM 2416 Cades Way Vista, California 92081 (760) 599–1813 [email protected] June 28, 2019 The Honorable Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street NE Washington, DC 20426 RE: Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage Project FERC Project No. 14227 Submittal of Study 28 Fire Study Dear Secretary Bose, The Nevada Hydro Company, (the “Company”) filed an application for an original license with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) for the Lake Elsinore Advanced Pumped Storage facility, FERC Project No. 14227 (the “Project”) on October 2, 2017. In response to the Commission’s June 15, 2018 request for additional studies, January 22, 2019 request for additional information, and May 13, 2019 letter approving the Fire Study Plan, with modifications, the Company herein submits its Fire Study Report (Study 28). The Commission’s May 13, 2019 letter requested the Company to file the results of the modified Fire Study by June 30, 2019. The Company has actively solicited information required to complete the Fire Study Report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (“USFS”) and the enclosed study report represents the Company’s best efforts to complete the study in the absence of the USFS information. The Company notes that there are a small number of yellow highlights throughout the document – particularly Section 6 and Section 7 – where additional operation-specific information is needed from the USFS. While more detailed information specific to USFS operations and capabilities will be helpful to understand the impact of the proposed project on USFS fire suppression capabilities, the information provided in the Study Report submitted herewith addresses the objectives of the Commission’s June 30, 2019 study request letter by including a robust analysis of fire risk and fuel loading, potential project effects on fire suppression activities, and the availability of the upper reservoir water for firefighting. -
Symposium Program Proceedings
Department of Geography Spring 2019 Colloquium May 8th, 2019 7:00 PM – 9:45 PM Program Poster Session – 7:00PM – 9:45PM (Peterson Hall 2nd Floor) Social Vulnerability in Communities Affected by the Thomas Fire Disaster by Lluvia Lastra, Lilian Yang, Segnide Guidimadjegbe, and Andrew Siwabessy The burden of hazard prevention and of loss in communities on the wildland-urban interface (WUI) is often unequally shouldered along socioeconomic lines. The changing nature of social vulnerability in these communities, in light of the dynamic fire regime, is not well studied in the context of southern California. In this study this shift is characterized by analyzing the 2017-2018 Thomas Fire and subsequent debris flow events using a mixed methodology approach. Maps of structural damage are created using Cal Fire parcel-level damage data in a geographical information system (GIS). Demographic data is reduced from Census block group information using principal component analysis (PCA) and is re- represented as a social vulnerability index (SoVI) after Cutter (2003). To identify socially vulnerable groups that are not obvious from Census data, we utilized a content analysis of newspaper articles published by the Santa Barbara Independent to further inform the geospatial analysis. Although the spatial analysis did not identify an explicit correlation between our SoVI and damage extent, qualitative enrichment offered explanations for damage extent outlier block groups and identified vulnerable groups that were missed by the spatial analysis. A Spark of Life: California Coastal sage scrub regeneration post-Woolsey Fire by Derek Emmons Despite California coastal sage scrub (CSS)’s resilience to millennia of human interactions, losing 90% of its historic range to development has left the remaining islands of biodiversity sensitive to variations in disturbance (Engelberg et al. -
Unit Strategic Fire Plan
Unit Strategic Fire Plan CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire May 2020 CAL FIRE/Riverside Unit Strategic Fire Plan Page 1 Table of Contents SIGNATURE PAGE .........................................................................................3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................4 SECTION I: UNIT OVERVIEW UNIT DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................6 UNIT PREPAREDNESSAND FIREFIGHTING CAPABILITIES ............................... 12 SECTION II: COLLABORATION DEVELOPMENT TEAM .................................................................................................................... 14 SECTION III: VALUES AT RISK IDENTIFICATION OF VALUES AT RISK ............................................................ 17 COMMUNITIES AT RISK ................................................................................. 22 SECTION IV: PRE‐FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FIRE PREVENTION ........................................................................................ 24 ENGINEERING & STRUCTURE IGNITABILITY................................................... 27 INFORMATIONANDEDUCATION ................................................................... 28 VEGETATION MANAGEMENT ..................................................................... 29 SECTION V: PRE‐FIRE MANAGEMENT TACTICS DIVISION / BATTALION / PROGRAM PLANS .................................................. 41 APPENDIX A: HIGH PRIORITY PRE‐FIRE PROJECTS ....................................... -
(SBN 53783) Dhowarth
1 HOWARTH & SMITH DON HOWARTH (SBN 53783) 2 [email protected] SUZELLE M. SMITH (SBN 113992) 3 [email protected] PAULEEN TRUONG (SBN 317914) 4 [email protected] 523 West Sixth Street, Suite 728 5 Los Angeles, California 90014 Telephone: (213) 955-9400 6 Facsimile: (213) 622-0791 7 Attorneys for Plaintiffs 8 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 9 FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES – CENTRAL DISTRICT 10 11 ANDREW VON OEYEN, an individual; ) CASE NO. EMMANUEL VILLAUME, an individual; ) 12 DAWN ERICSON, individually and as Trustee of ) COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND the DAWN NAVARRO ERICSON TRUST; ) INJUNCTIVE RELIEF: 13 DOMINQUE NAVARRO, an individual; JACK ) SILVERMAN, an individual; CLAIRE ) 1. NEGLIGENCE AS TO SCE 14 SILVERMAN, an individual; MARIEL ) DEFENDANTS SANDOVAL, individually and as parent and ) 2. NEGLIGENCE AS TO BOEING 15 natural guardian of STELLA BELLE ) SANDOVAL, a minor; CLIFF HIRSCH, an ) DEFENDANTS 16 individual; GLADYS HIRSCH, an individual; ) 3. INVERSE CONDEMNATION ISHC LOMPOC, LLC, a California limited ) 4. PUBLIC NUISANCE 17 liability company; PAUL ROTHBARD, an ) 5. PRIVATE NUISANCE individual; and CHELSEA SEGAL, an individual; ) 6. TRESPASS 18 ) 7. VIOLATION OF PUBLIC Plaintiffs, ) UTILITIES CODE § 2106 19 ) vs. ) 8. VIOLATION OF HEALTH & 20 ) SAFETY CODE § 13007 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON ) 9. VIOLATION OF HEALTH & 21 COMPANY; EDISON INTERNATIONAL; ) SAFETY CODE § 13008 THE BOEING COMPANY; and DOES 1 ) 10. PREMISES LIABILITY 22 through 100, inclusive, ) ) DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 23 Defendants. ) 24 / / / 25 / / / 26 / / / 27 / / / 28 / / / COMPLAINT 1 Plaintiffs, by their attorneys, complaining of Defendants, allege for their Complaint as follows: 2 I. INTRODUCTION 3 THE WOOLSEY FIRE 4 1. -
NOAA West Watch Reporting Regional Environmental Conditions
NOAA West Watch Reporting Regional Environmental Conditions & Impacts in the West November 27, 2018 Call Agenda • Project Recap & Updates (Dan McEvoy) • Regional Climate and ENSO brief (Dan McEvoy) • Guest speaker: Dr. Nina Oakley, California post-fire debris flow hazards heading into winter 2018/2019 • IOOS Nearshore Conditions brief (Jan Newton, Alex Harper) • Discussion - Environmental conditions and impacts reporting (All) – Additional impacts to share? – Future guest speaker or thematic issue of interest? 2 Project Recap and Updates • NOAA West Watch bi-monthly webinars are a project of the NOAA Western Regional Collaboration Team (NOAA West), in partnership with the Western Regional Climate Center with standing contributions from the three Integrated Ocean Observing System Regional Associations. • Initiated in 2015, evaluated in 2016 and re-instated as a bi-monthly offering in 2018. Current goals: – Serve as forum for bring together NOAA staff and partners from across the agency and region to share information about regional scale environmental observations and impacts on human systems. – Help facilitate interdisciplinary connections and the exchange of information among agency staff and partners on regional climatic and oceanic conditions, particularly departures from normal. These webinars are not formal public releases of data. 3 Project Recap and Updates • This is the first webinar offering for Fiscal Year 2019 and the Western Regional Climate Center has taken over leading the webinars • NOAA West has provided funding to the Western Regional Climate Center to offer three more in Fiscal Year 2019 (November, January & Spring/Summer timeframe). Next webinar: January 22nd, 1-2PM PDT/ 2-3PM MDT. • 2019 is a transitional year. -
Holy Fire Watershed Report
Burned Area Emergency Response Holy Fire Cleveland National Forest Hydrology and Watershed Specialist Report August 25, 2018 Overview of Horsethief Canyon above Interstate 15 Submitted by: Kelsha L. Anderson, Angeles National Forest Hydrologist I. Objectives This report summarizes the results from the hydrologic assessment of the Holy Fire in the center of the Santa Ana Mountains as part of the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER). II Potential Values at Risk Values at Risk (VARs) on Forest Service land (FS) are addressed in Appendix D. Many VARs that could be impacted by the fire are on adjacent private, state, county, or local government lands. The State Watershed Emergency Response Team conducted a detailed analysis of non-FS VARs that will be published in a separate document. The FS BAER team and State WERT team collaborate and share information during post-fire assessments to ensure VARs are identified. On private lands, the primary contact for treatments is the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). III. Resource Condition Assessment Fire and Site Description The Holy Fire started on August 06, 2018 at 1:30pm (suspected arson). As of August 21, 2018 the fire had burned 22,982 acres (90% contained). The burn occurred adjacent to California State Highway 74 and Interstate 15. Much of the Holy Fire last burned between 1940-80’s. Table 1: Fire History in Holy Fire Perimeter Holy Fire area impacted Fires of Note Coldwater Canyon Silverado (1987), Unnamed (1942) Mayhew Canyon Indian (1966), Wright Cyn (1942) Indian Canyon -
2018 FIRE DEPARTMENT COMPARISON: Call Average Per Fire Agency Annual Budget Number of Stations Calls Per Year Population Total Personnel Station
IDYLLWILD FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT 2018/19 FY First Qtr Review OBJECTIVES: • 18/19 FY Department Overview: • Meeting Our Mission. ✓Ensuring the Highest Quality and Professional Service. ❑ Review response data. ❑ Review the IFPD Training and Certification program. ❑ Discuss our Focus and Direction. ❑ Looking Ahead. ✓Financial Responsibility, Efficiency and Reliability. ❑ Revenue review. ❑ Expenditure review. ❑ Fee for service review. (ambulance/mutual aid) ❑ Parity review. OUR MISSION The mission of the Idyllwild Fire Protection District is to protect lives, property and the environment through the provision of comprehensive integrated “All Risk” Fire Protection, Emergency Medical Services and other Emergency Services that result in social, economic and environmental benefits for the people of Idyllwild. OUR CITIZENS ARE OUR MISSION IFPD Response Data (10yr avrg. ) • Medical Aid Service 676 77% • Fire 38 5% • Hazardous Conditions 26 3% • Public Service 64 8% • False Alarm 37 4% • Special Incident type/Other 27 3% • TOTALS: 868 100% IFPD RESPONSE DATA: 2017/18 Response Data 2018/19 Response Data 5.48% 2.74% 6.04% 1.13% False Alarm Special Inc. False Alarm Special Inc. 6.72% 4.15% Public Service Public Service 3.24% 3.40% Hazardous Cond Hazardous Cond 6.72% 7.55% Fire Fire 75.09% 77.74% EMS EMS RESPONSE DATA (CONT.) • Average call Statistics: 2018/19 • Daily : % of overlapping calls: 39.57% ✓ Incident Average – 2.38 Dispatch Times ✓ Daily Transport Average – 1.5 Dispatch to Responding: ▪ Monthly : EMS Calls: .42 sec. ✓ Incident Average – 72 Fire Calls: 1:01 min/sec. ✓ Monthly Transport Average – 44 ▪ Annually : Dispatch to on Scene: ✓ Incident Average – 800-1100 (868 – 10yr.