Lab 8

            The Station Fire in Los Angeles in 2009 had a huge impact on the city and its people.  Southern California is an area that has a great fire danger, and it is no surprise that the state was in drought when this fire occurred.  I created two maps that display the fire perimeters from the 2009 Station Fire in Los Angeles County.  The first map is a reference map to display the area in which the fire occurred as well as how the fire perimeters changed and grew on a daily basis.  The second map also shows the major cities, smaller cities, hospitals and highways that the fire affected.  My maps also include elevation data information, which helps to understand the affects of the fire.

            Southern California is an area at high risk for fires.  The geography in Los Angeles County contributes to this risk.  There have been many large fires that put the city and its residents in great danger.  One of the leading contributors to these large fires is drought.  Eight very large fires, about 150,000 acres in size, have occurred in California since the 19^th century.  Each of these fires was preceded with an extremely long drought anywhere from one to four years long (“Large Fires Natural…”).  In a news update posted by the governor of California on November 30, 2009 it was stated, “The precipitation in Water Year 2009 was the third consecutive below average year for the state” (United States).  The Station Fire of 2009 was greatly affected by the condition that the state of California was in at the time.  Being a drought year that year immensely affected the fire in Los Angeles County. 

            This first map represents the area that the fire burned beginning on August 29, 2009 and ending on September 2, 2009.  Each different color shows how the perimeter of the fire grew each day.  This fire began on August 26, 2009 and the cause of the fire was arson.  In total the fire burned about 160,000 acres of land.  It was the largest fire in recorded history of Angeles National Forest (“Station Fire”).  It can be seen on the map that I created how quickly the fire was spreading.  Geography is a very important tool, an especially so in this situation because it provides useful information about the affects of the fire.  One application of using maps of this fire to acquire and analysis information is studying the potential sediment impact.  In a brief written about this fire and the study of the impact of sediment in the area stated, “The Station Fire burned area, which spread across numerous Debris Production Areas, is subdivided into 74 subarea watersheds” (Woods), the article then proceeds to direct the reader to an attached map.  This is one example of an application of the importance of geography and natural disaster. 

            The second map also shows the daily fire perimeters as well as the major cities, smaller cities, hospitals and highways that were affected.  In observing this map it can be seen how large of an impact this fire had on the city.  It burned through a major highway and was very close in proximity to many cities and hospitals.  An article written on August 31, 2009 stated, “More than 12,500 homes were threatened, and 6,600 were under mandatory evacuation orders Sunday night.” (“L.A. County Fire Doubles in Size”).  This statistic alone represents the impact of this fire, which is supported by this map. 

            The Station Fire of 2009 was a very large fire that impacted many cities and therefore people.  It burned a huge area of land.  The tool of GIS is so helpful in situations such as natural disaster because they can be used to outline the affected areas and studied to see the impacts that the fire will have on surrounding areas.  It is important information to know what cities, roads and hospitals will be affected, which is why I thought that would be important to display these landmarks on my map. 

Works Cited

"L.A. County Fire Doubles in Size; More Homes Destroyed; Mt. Wilson Threatened [Updated]." Los Angeles Times. Tribune, 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 8 June 2012. .

"Large Fires Natural and Inevitable in Southern California." The California Chaparral Institute. N.p., 4 Sept. 2009. Web. 8 June 2012. .

"Station Fire." InciWeb. N.p., 10 Nov. 2009. Web. 8 June 2012. .

United States. The Natural Resources Agency. Department of Water Resources. CA.gov Department of Water Resources. By Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mike Chrisman, and Lester A. Snow. N.p., 30 Nov. 2009. Web. 8 June 2012. .

Woods, Patricia. "Station Fire Burned Area Brief." Letter to Christopher Stone. 14 Jan. 2012. Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 June 2012. .