San Diego, California: a Unique Regulatory Approach to an Expansive Wildland-Urban Interface Challenge
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California Fire Siege 2007 an Overview Cover Photos from Top Clockwise: the Santiago Fire Threatens a Development on October 23, 2007
CALIFORNIA FIRE SIEGE 2007 AN OVERVIEW Cover photos from top clockwise: The Santiago Fire threatens a development on October 23, 2007. (Photo credit: Scott Vickers, istockphoto) Image of Harris Fire taken from Ikhana unmanned aircraft on October 24, 2007. (Photo credit: NASA/U.S. Forest Service) A firefighter tries in vain to cool the flames of a wind-whipped blaze. (Photo credit: Dan Elliot) The American Red Cross acted quickly to establish evacuation centers during the siege. (Photo credit: American Red Cross) Opposite Page: Painting of Harris Fire by Kate Dore, based on photo by Wes Schultz. 2 Introductory Statement In October of 2007, a series of large wildfires ignited and burned hundreds of thousands of acres in Southern California. The fires displaced nearly one million residents, destroyed thousands of homes, and sadly took the lives of 10 people. Shortly after the fire siege began, a team was commissioned by CAL FIRE, the U.S. Forest Service and OES to gather data and measure the response from the numerous fire agencies involved. This report is the result of the team’s efforts and is based upon the best available information and all known facts that have been accumulated. In addition to outlining the fire conditions leading up to the 2007 siege, this report presents statistics —including availability of firefighting resources, acreage engaged, and weather conditions—alongside the strategies that were employed by fire commanders to create a complete day-by-day account of the firefighting effort. The ability to protect the lives, property, and natural resources of the residents of California is contingent upon the strength of cooperation and coordination among federal, state and local firefighting agencies. -
Community Wildfire Protection Plan and Other Natural Disasters
Laguna Beach Community Wildfire Protection Plan And Other Natural Disasters Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 3 1. Laguna Beach History......................................................................................................... 3 2. Covered Area ...................................................................................................................... 3 3. CWPP Purpose .................................................................................................................... 3 II. CITY RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................................. 3 1. Fire ...................................................................................................................................... 3 2. Floods ................................................................................................................................ 39 3. Tsunamis ........................................................................................................................... 41 4. Earthquakes ....................................................................................................................... 47 5. Evacuation Plan ................................................................................................................ 53 III. PUBLIC RESOURCES ................................................................................................... -
The 2007 Southern California Wildfires: Lessons in Complexity
fire The 2007 Southern California Wildfires: Lessons in Complexity s is evidenced year after year, the na- ture of the “fire problem” in south- Jon E. Keeley, Hugh Safford, C.J. Fotheringham, A ern California differs from most of Janet Franklin, and Max Moritz the rest of the United States, both by nature and degree. Nationally, the highest losses in ϳ The 2007 wildfire season in southern California burned over 1,000,000 ac ( 400,000 ha) and property and life caused by wildfire occur in included several megafires. We use the 2007 fires as a case study to draw three major lessons about southern California, but, at the same time, wildfires and wildfire complexity in southern California. First, the great majority of large fires in expansion of housing into these fire-prone southern California occur in the autumn under the influence of Santa Ana windstorms. These fires also wildlands continues at an enormous pace cost the most to contain and cause the most damage to life and property, and the October 2007 fires (Safford 2007). Although modest areas of were no exception because thousands of homes were lost and seven people were killed. Being pushed conifer forest in the southern California by wind gusts over 100 kph, young fuels presented little barrier to their spread as the 2007 fires mountains experience the same negative ef- reburned considerable portions of the area burned in the historic 2003 fire season. Adding to the size fects of long-term fire suppression that are of these fires was the historic 2006–2007 drought that contributed to high dead fuel loads and long evident in other western forests (e.g., high distance spotting. -
Major Fires in San Diego County History
Major fires in San Diego County history September 1913: Barona fire burned 65,470 acres. September 1928: Witch Creek fire near Santa Ysabel charred 33,240 acres. September 1928: Beauty Peak fire near the Riverside County border in the North County blackened 67,000 acres. October 1943: Hauser Creek fire in the Cleveland National Forest, at least 9 firefighters dead (including 7 marines), 72 injuries and 10,000 acres burned. August 1944: Laguna Junction fire burned 60,000 acres August 1950: Conejos Fire charred 64,000 acres. [Month unknown] 1952: Cuyamaca fire burned 64,000 acres November 1956: Inaja fire killed 11 firefighters and burned 43,904 acres near Julian. September 26-Oct. 3 1970: The Laguna fire, the county's largest fire in modern times, burned 175,425 acres, killed eight people and destroyed 382 homes. In 24 hours the fire burned from near Mount Laguna into the outskirts of El Cajon and Spring Valley. September 1978: PSA Crash in North Park June 1985: Normal Heights fire destroyed or damaged 116 houses, causing $8.6 million in damage. October 1993: Guejito fire east of Escondido charred 20,000 acres and destroyed 18 houses. Estimated $1.25 million damage. October 1996: Harmony Grove fire burned 8,600 acres, from Harmony Grove west of Escondido to La Costa, destroying nearly 110 homes and killing one man. August 1997: Lake Wohlford fire northeast of Escondido - an arson blaze - destroyed seven houses and burned 500 acres. October 1999: La Jolla Fire (La Jolla Indian Reservation) burned approximately 7,800 acres and 1 firefighter died. -
Volume-1-San-Diego-Main-Report
Folsom (Sacramento), CA Management Consultants Regional Fire Services Deployment Study for the CountyCounty ofof SanSan DiegoDiego OfficeOffice ofof EmergencyEmergency ServicesServices Volume 1 of 3 – Main Report May 5, 2010 2250 East Bidwell St., Ste #100 Folsom, CA 95630 (916) 458-5100 Fax: (916) 983-2090 This page was intentionally left blank TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page VOLUME 1 of 3 – (this volume) PART ONE—EXECUTIVE SUMMARY i. Executive Summary ......................................................................................... 1 Policy Choices Framework .................................................................... 2 Overall Attributes of the County of San Diego’s Fire Services............. 2 Accomplishments to Date ...................................................................... 3 Main Challenges..................................................................................... 3 Fire Plan Phasing.................................................................................. 17 ii. Comprehensive List of Findings and Recommendations ........................... 19 PART TWO—PROJECT BACKGROUND Section 1 Introduction and Background to the Regional Deployment Study .......................................................................................... 37 1.1 Project Approach and Research Methods.................................. 38 1.2 Report Organization................................................................... 38 1.3 Project Background................................................................... -
Post-Wildfire Rebuilding and New Development in California Indicates Minimal Adaptation to Fire Risk
Land Use Policy 107 (2021) 105502 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Land Use Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/landusepol Post-wildfire rebuilding and new development in California indicates minimal adaptation to fire risk H. Anu Kramer a,*, Van Butsic b, Miranda H. Mockrin c, Carlos Ramirez-Reyes a, Patricia M. Alexandre a,d, Volker C. Radeloff a a SILVIS Lab, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA b Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California Berkeley, 231 Mulford Hall, Berkeley CA 94720, USA c Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 5523 Research Park Dr. Suite 350, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA d Forest Research Centre, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: Every year, wildfires destroy thousands of buildings in the United States, especially in the rapidly growing Wildfire wildland-urban interface, where homes and wildland vegetation meet or intermingle. After a wildfire there is a Housing growth window of opportunity for residents and public agencies to re-shape patterns of development, and avoid Wildland urban interface development in locations that are inherently at higher risk of wildfire destruction. We examined 28 of the most Policy destructive wildfiresin California, the state where most buildings are destroyed by wildfires,to evaluate whether Planning locations of rebuilt and newly constructed buildings were adaptive (i.e., if building occurred in lower risk areas). In total, these fires burned 7,075 buildings from 1970 to 2009. We found minimal evidence for adaptation both in the number and placement of buildings post-fire. -
CAL FIRE Border Impact Statistics
BORDER AGENCY FIRE COUNCIL The Harris Fire Year End Report 2007 1 2 What is BAFC? – The concerned citizens of the United States and Mexico formed the Border Agency Fire Council. It is a consortium of government and private entities, emergency responders, environmental specialists, law enforcement, fire protection, and elected officials. It began under emergency conditions and has proven to be an extremely successful collaboration. People are alive today because of BAFC. Threatened habitat is protected and even improved because of this program. An unprecedented bi-national mutual assistance agreement is in place and working because of this program. The members of BAFC have worked without judgment or malice toward their fellow human being. From the beginning, their motivation has been primarily to save lives and protect the sensitive habitat of the border area. Thirty-four organizations make up BAFC; a list of members is at the end of this report. The members meet quarterly during the winter and every six to eight weeks during fire season. They meet at the San Diego headquarters of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) in El Cajon, California. Through collaborative effort, they have altered the environment to allow better access into the wildland for emergency responders, while respecting the natural values of the area. They have enhanced communication among emergency responders on both sides of the U.S. - Mexico border. They have reached out to people in both countries with safety messages in Spanish and English. This report provides a brief description of the many projects the Council and agencies have accomplished this year and ongoing projects started in other years yet still active today. -
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. -
San Diego Gas & Electric 2019 Fire Mitigation Plan Enhancements
soaf San Diego Gas & Electric b A ~ Sempra Energy utility 2019 Fire Mitigation Plan Enhancements © 2015 San Diego Gas & Electric Company. All copyright and trademark rights reserved. soa; SDG&E Wildfire Prevention Strategy and Programs ) A ~ Sempra [ncrgy utility .. .. .. .. .... ' . SDG&E strives for continuous improvement to its fire mitigation program taking a three- pronged approach, integrating efforts in: • Operations and Engineering • Situational Awareness and Weather Technology • Customer Outreach and Education 2 soaf Wildfire Prevention Strategy and Programs ~ Operations and Engineering A ~ Sempra [ncrgy utility ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• . Implementation of an expanded fuels management program. Establishing an enhanced Ignition Management Program. 3 sos; Wildfire Prevention Strategy and Programs ~ Operations and Engineering A ~ Sempra [ncrgy utility ... , .. , ......... Public Safety Power Shutoff Engineering Enhancements: Multi- year program to install sectionalizing devices in order to reduce the customer impact of PSPS events. Remote Sectionalizing Device 4 sos; Wildfire Prevention Strategy and Programs ~ Operations and Engineering A ~ Sempra [ncrgy utility ••••• =;;ij~~~iii .. ,. ... ........ •~·····- .................. • . Doubling the inspection rate in the High 'Vege tation Mana gement Fire Threat District (HFTD). Increase post-trim clearance where feasible within the HFTD. Collaborative data analysis with Meteorology. • Combining big data from Meteorology with big data from Vegetation Management with goal to create a ‘risk profile for every known tree.’ 5 soaf Wildfire Prevention Strategy and Programs ~ Situational Awareness and Weather Forecasting A ~ Se mpra [ ncrgy utility ... , .. , ......... The Fire Potential Index (FPI) is a seven- day planning and decision support tool, developed to communicate the wildfire potential within each of SDG&E’s 8 operating districts. 2019 enhancements include integration of artificial intelligence into the fuels modeling. -
Estimating the Impacts of Wildfire on Ecosystem Services in Southern California
Estimating the Impacts of Wildfire on Ecosystem Services in Southern California Emma Underwood University of California, Davis, USA and Southampton University, UK Hugh Safford US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region and University of California, Davis Mediterranean-type ecosystems • Cool moist winters, warm dry summers • Long dry season • High inter-annual variability in precipitation • Fire is a major ecological process Characterized by • High levels of biodiversity • High population densities • High levels of threats Area burned in California wildfires 2003-2018 9000 8000 7000 y = 139.82x - 277808 R² = 0.0918 6000 5000 4000 Square km 3000 2000 1000 0 Estimate of insured fire loss, the 10 worst wildfires in US history 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 Insured Structures Rank Date Name, Location Deaths loss ($ d destroyed millions) 1 Nov. 8-25, 2018 Camp Fire, CA 18800 86 9000 2 Oct. 8-20, 2017 Tubbs Fire 5640 22 >4000 3 Nov. 8-12, 2018 Woolsey Fire, CA 1600 3 3000 4 Oct. 8-20, 2017 Atlas Fire, CA 780 6 >2000 5 Dec. 4-Jan. 12, 2017 Thomas Fire, CA 1070 21* 1800 6 Oct. 20-21, 1991 Oakland Hills Fire, CA 3290 25 1700 7 Jul. 23-Aug. 30, 2018 Carr Fire, CA 1605 8 1650 8 Oct. 21-24, 2007 Witch Fire, CA 1265 2 1300 9 Oct. 25-Nov. 4, 2003 Cedar Fire, CA 2820 15 1060 10 Oct. 25-Nov. 3, 2003 Old Fire, CA 975 6 975 Insurance Information institute, https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics- wildfires; Updated for 2017 & 2018 fires from preliminary online data Current fire situation in northern v. -
Chapter 4: Fire Hazards
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND REPORT to the 2003 SAFETY ELEMENT CITY of GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA CHAPTER 4: FIRE HAZARDS 4.1 Wildland Fires Due to its weather, topography and native vegetation, the entire southern California area is at risk from wildland fires. The extended droughts characteristic of California’s Mediterranean climate result in large areas of dry vegetation that provide fuel for wildland fires. Furthermore, the native vegetation typically has a high oil content that makes it highly flammable. The area is also intermittently impacted by Santa Ana (or Santana) winds, the hot, dry winds that blow across southern California in the spring and late fall. These winds often fan and help spread fires in the region. Combine these conditions with the fact that more people than ever are living and playing in wildland areas, and the potential for major wildland fires to occur increases even further. In fact, the wildfire risk in the United States has increased in the last few decades with the increasing encroachment of residences and other structures into the wildland environment and the enduring drought conditions that have affected some regions. Between 1990 and 1999 inclusive, there were on average 106,347 wildfires annually in the United States, for a combined average annual burn of nearly 3.65 million acres of brush (htpp://nifc.gov/fireinfo/1999/highlites.html). These fires are for the most part caused by people: between 1988 and 1997, human-induced fires burned nearly eight times more acreage than fires caused by lightning. A wildfire that consumes hundreds to thousands of acres of vegetated property can overwhelm local emergency response resources. -
Fire Risk Is Up; Is Rattlesnake Risk Up, Too?
Fire Safety News Serving the communities of Castle Creek, Champagne Village, Deer Springs, West Lilac, Gordon Hill, Hidden Meadows, Jesmond Dene, Rimrock, and the Welk Resort A 501(c)(3) Community Service Organization SEPTEMBER 9, 2014 Ground forces move to the front in the battle against the 32,000-acre Eiler Fire, one of several fires to strike Northern California this summer. / Photo, Jeff Hall, CAL FIRE VIP Photographer Inside This Issue Forward this issue to a friend Parched Brush Intensifies Fire Risk Rattlesnakes Invading Deer Springs? Well, Maybe Not Drought Advice: Be Careful Out There Have you heard (or seen) ... Helpful Phone Numbers Parched Brush Intensifies Fire Risk As California firefighters chase blazes from the Oregon to the Mexico borders, fear grows that Southern California is on the verge of a catastrophic fire. San Diego County has already experienced an unprecedented event this year — Santa Ana wind-driven fires in the month of May. “Santa Ana winds have started many fires that historically have resulted in the loss of many lives and structures in San Diego County,” said CAL FIRE Battalion Chief Nick Schuler, who is based in Deer Springs. But the fires that struck North San Diego County in May struck with surprising ferocity. “This was the first time that we’ve seen a fire in a coastal community that moved so rapidly,” Schuler said of the Poinsettia Fire, which hit Carlsbad on May 14. “Within minutes of the fire breaking out, homes were threatened and self-evacuations were occurring. The magnitude of the fire was alarming.” Six hundred acres of tinder-dry brush burned in Carlsbad in a matter of hours, destroying five single-family residences, 18 apartment units and a large commercial building, and damaging other structures.