USGS Launches Web Site to Educate Public About Post-Wildfire Concerns in California

Saturday, December 1, 2007

USGS Launches Web Site to Educate Public About Post-Wildfire Concerns in California

Reston, Va. - The U.S. Geological Survey launched a Web site today where the public can access science information to help them in the aftermath of the Southern California wildfires.

The public can find out how to prepare for and protect themselves from flash floods and debris flows, commonly known as mudflows; see satellite imagery of the burned areas; learn about real-time stream-flow/flood information; listen to interviews with scientists; and view a video and photo gallery.

The USGS Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project team is coordinating a post-Southern California wildfire response around four public safety goals - assess and identify debris-flow danger, size and potential flows; estimate flood risk; assess biodiversity and ecological impacts; and assess surface water quality impact on human health.

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

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****REMINDER**** Every fire has the ability to be catastrophic. The wildland fire management environment has profoundly changed. Growing numbers of communities, across the nation, are experiencing longer fire seasons; more frequent, bigger, and more severe, fires are a real threat. Be careful with all campfires and equipment.

"I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer." --Abraham Lincoln

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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Saturday, December 1, 2007