Lab7: Mapping the Station Fire in ArcGIS

Last summer, over 251 square miles of national forest and residential homes were devastated by wildfire in northern Los Angeles. At the time of the inception of the blaze, I was still enjoying my summer vacation. By its end, I was well into the first quarter of my senior year in high school. The fire burned from the 26th of August until the 16th of October before it was successfully put out. This fire, one that would eventually by known as the Station Fire, went on record as the 10^th largest fire in the history of California.

As a resident of northern California, I was not directly impacted by the Station Fire and did not think much of it at first. However, since I had family living in the Glendale area as well as a sister attending UCSD, I was not unaffected. As we sat in the comfort of our own home watching the fire rage in news broadcasts, I learned that wind can have a substantial impact on how and where a wildfire burns. Additionally, the Station Fire was not a wind-driven fire, either. So if wind could influence a wildfire so significantly and the Station Fire was not wind-driven, I wondered, what other factors could influence the spread of a wildfire? I suspected that elevation could play a part in wildfire expansion. So, given the opportunity, I decided to investigate with ArcGIS.

I began my investigation by first plotting the 9 perimeters of the Station Fire. I then procured the Digital Elevation Model for Los Angeles County online and plotted that as the background to the progression of the fire. To reduce the amount of data thrown at the reader, I removed a few intermediate fire perimeters, increased their opacities and turned the DEM into a shaded relief map. To make more clear the direction the fire was heading in, I also plotted the areas of Los Angeles County that are considered “highly populated”. The fire began at the border between the Angeles National Park and a populated region and expanded in all directions but primarily northwards and to the sides. Strangely, on the eastern side, the fire took on a forked path.

What I found was a little disappointing for my investigation. The elevation of the Angeles National Forest as seen on my map was a little too variable to find any major correlation between it and the progression of the Station Fire, rendering my hypothesis inaccurate. There was no prominent connection between the steepness of the hills and the direction the flame expanded – despite the orientation of the hills, the fire grew as it was expected to, independent of elevation.

The Station Fire was 100% contained on the 16^th of October thanks to some rainfall, but its effects were irreversible. In addition to its profound impact on the ecology of the region, two firefighters lost their lives when their car drove off the road in an effort to escape the smoke. With the proper application of GIS (as well as prompt response from the U.S. Forest Service), however, the next fire that threatens Southern California can be contained before it rages out of control. Even though elevation was not a key factor in determining the direction the fire would take, there are virtually limitless factors that could be explored with programs like ArcGIS to limit the damage done by wildfires in the future.

Sources:

1. Gleeson, Gene. "Station Fire teaches fire department lessons." abclocalgo.com. Eyewitness News Los Angeles, 7 Jun. 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

2. Garrison, Jessica, Alexandra Zavis, and Joe Mozingo. “Station fire claims 18 homes and two firefighters.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.

3. Hall, Elizabeth. "Wildland Fire: Science of Wildfire." National Interagency Fire Center. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. http://www.nifc.gov/preved/comm_guide/wildfire/fire_4.html.

4. The National Map Seamless Server. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. http://seamless.usgs.gov/website/seamless/viewer.htm.

5. Mapshare. Web. 16 Nov. 2010. http://gis.ats.ucla.edu//Mapshare/Default.cfm.