Southern California - BAER Coordination Burned Area Emergency Response

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So Cal BAER Coordination Burned Area Emergency Response

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INCIDENT UPDATED 7 HRS. AGO

Archaeologist assesses damages to an historic adobe structure on the Poomacha Fire
Credit: Department of Interior

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Summary

Forest Service and Department of Interior Interagency Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams for the recent southern California wildfires are established and conducting ground and aerial reconnaissance on eight fires. The BAER teams consist of resource specialists such as Hydrologists, Soil Scientists, Geologists, Biologists and Engineers with experience working on BAER teams throughout California and the Western United States.

A SoCal BAER Coordination team has also been established to provide overall coordination for Forest Service BAER efforts by facilitating multi-agency coordination and communication, coordinating public information, and providing support to the individual BAER teams.

The Forest Service BAER teams and the Department of the Interior (DOI) Interagency BAER team are working cooperatively to address emergency stabilization needs on a watershed basis across mutiple federal jurisdictions.The DOI BAER Team is working on burned area emergency stabilization for Tribal lands, the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The team, under the leadership of Erv Gasser, is addressing burned lands in the Poomacha, Witch, and Harris fires near San Diego.

One of the first priorities for each BAER team is to finalize a Soil Burn Severity map to determine the pattern of the burn on the landscape. Hydrologists and Soil Scientists refine the initial map received from a satellite image of the fire produced from the Remote Sensing Application Center (RSAC). Further modification and revision is expected as more field data is collected and observations are made. The Soil Burn Severity map is critical as it "sets the stage" to assess potential impacts to resources and downstream values at risk.

The BAER teams are meeting with interagency cooperators to discuss initial issues and potential values and threats such as:

Life, Property and Safety. Threats to: 1) people and property; 2) trails, roads and highways; 3) recreation sites; and 4) water systems.

Resources. Threats to: 1) water quality; 2) soil productivity; 3) cultural resources; 4) species of special concern; 5) OHV incursion into fire areas; and 6) noxious weeds.

The SoCal BAER Coordination Team will produce Forest Service briefs summarizing the progress from each of the Forest Service BAER teams during the emergency assessment phase to coordinate with affected agencies, cooperators and other interested parties.

For further information, please contact SoCal BAER Coordination Team Leader Todd Ellsworth at 909-777-3015, or SoCal BAER Public Information Officer Cathleen Thompson at 909-777-3061.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Burned Area Emergency Response
Cause	N/a
Date of Origin	10/27/2007 at 00 hrs.
Location	Southern California National Forests
Incident Commander	Todd Ellsworth

Current Situation

Total Personnel	100
Size	122,440 acres
Significant Events	Forest Service and Department of Interior interagency Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams are currently working on eight (8) separate incidents: Ranch, Buckweed, Grass Valley, Slide, Witch, Poomacha, Harris, and Santiago fires. The State of California and Cal Fire have mobilized additional resources to the already deployed federal BAER teams. The Forest Service's Remote Sensing Application Center (RSAC) is providing remotely sensed maps and initial Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) mapping for all the recent southern California wildfires. This will assist the BAER teams and help prioritize where subsequent BAER teams may be deployed.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Federal interagency BAER teams of specialists are surveying and assessing the burned areas and developing emergency treatment plans for each of the eight Forest Service wildfires. After the assessment reports are completed, the four Forest Supervisors will establish BAER implementation teams that will install the finalized treatments. All treatments should be completed by the winter storm season.
Projected Movement	Initial BAER team findings are: hazard trees, rock slides, OHV damage to native vegetation recovery, potential storm damage to existing roads, hiking trails, recreation cabins and campgrounds, reservoirs, water quality and supply, downstream values-at-risk, cultural resources, and the spread of noxious weeds.
Remarks	The Forest Service and Department of Interior BAER effort for southern California is a multi-agency, cooperative effort. The SoCal BAER Coordination Team is co-located with the FEMA Multi-Agency Support Group in Colton, California.

Weather

Current Wind Conditions	Not available
Current Temperature	Not available
Current Humidity	Not available