The County...The County...LA COUNTY IS ON FIRE

Joshua Green

Ashraf, Cameran

Geography 7 Lab

29 November 2012

Station Fire 2009

            For my final lab, I decided I wanted to illustrate, using arcMap, how the Station Fire in 2009 spread across LA County as well as what areas it affected. I wanted to show the proximity of the fire in relation to recreation areas and county parks. I, also, included major U.S. highways and roads that run through Los Angeles County to convey how the fire affected traffic as well.

            According to NASA, the fire initially began to burn August 26th, 2009 and would continue to burn until mid-September. Their satellites happened to create a "burn scar" using combinations of infrared and visible lights. Therefore, NASA was able to notice the large amounts of vegetation that were obliterated in the blaze. This is significant, because the fire did burn a few hundred thousand acres most being in the Los Angeles county forest. This was one of the most catastrophic events that occurred in Los Angeles County, as it led to destruction of natural habitats left a large portion of our forest in debris from the smoke, fire and etc.

            During this epidemic, more than just the forest were affected by the blaze; plenty of commuters and residents were also affected because of the thick clouds of smoke and climate changed that occurred. According to InciWeb.org (link from NASA), there were hundreds of properties destroyed including: 89 residences, 13 damaged; 26 commercial properties and another 22 damaged. Clearly, the fire got out of control and cost many people their homes, jobs and possibly their lives as 22 people were injured during the blaze. This illustrates the destruction of this fire and how much chaos it inflicted in the process of a few weeks. Furthermore, a larger concern was the aftermath of the epic fire as USGS, the United States Geological Survey, had to install equipment for future destruction. However, it was not fire future fires but for floods, because the post fire run offs and erosion caused made certain areas--specifically the Dunsmar canyon--more susceptible to future dangers. As a side note, three years after the incident USGS still monitors the area.

            With a more sensational aspect to the entire fire incident, is the Los Angeles Times, which created an article stating how the fire was arson and officials initiated a homicide investigation to bring in the culprits. Also, the article mentions how the bomb squad even entered the area to solve problems but were unfortunately, turned away. In addition, to the sensational news the Los Angeles times, CNN exaggerated some numbers about the amount of threatened structures, for example they state thousands of structures were threated while Inciweb.org--a credible source--states only one hundred structures were in harm’s way. Clearly, there are efforts for CNN and newscasters, in general, to place emphasis on the negatives of the fire such as deaths and number of properties threatened. Unfortunately, they never commented on the reservations or parks that were in danger, in contrast, to the credible sources which mentioned both the human and environmental aspects.

            In conclusion, the Station Fire of 2009, caused devastation across the board from affecting county parks to the homes that neighbored them. Also, it is evident there are different perspectives on the fire as more credible sources, such as NASA and InciWeb used objectionable data as the news articles used subjective data to convey their point. With information from either source, it is evident that the fire caused a tremendous amount of destruction and this can be seen using the maps I created as well. Both maps portray the extent of the fire up to September 2nd, but my thematic map illustrates what recreational and park areas were in danger or were damaged during the blaze. In addition, my map shows nearby major highways and streets that were closed or immobilized due to the heavy flow of traffic for the weeks the fire burned. Ultimately, one can realize how much a fire can affect a community whether it wildlife or human beings commuting from their homes to their workplace.

Works Cited

"2009 Station Fire, Dunsmore Canyon, Glendale California." 2009 Station Fire, Dunsmore Canyon, Glendale California. USGS, Dec. 2009. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://landslides.usgs.gov/monitoring/dunsmore/>.

"'Angry Fire' Roars across 100,000 California Acres." CNN. N.p., 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://articles.cnn.com/2009-08-31/us/california.wildfires_1_mike-dietrich-firefighters-safety-incident-commander?_s=PM:US>.

Bloomekatz, Ari B. "Station Fire Was Arson, Officials Say; Homicide Investigation Begins." L.A. NOW. N.p., 03 Sept. 2009. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/station-fire-was-arson-homicide-investigation-begins.html>.

"Station Fire Burn Scar : Natural Hazards." Station Fire Burn Scar : Natural Hazards. NASA, 18 Sept. 2009. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=40245>.

"Station Fire News Release." InciWeb the Incident Information System: Station Fire News Release. N.p., 18 Sept. 2009. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. <http://www.inciweb.org/incident/article/9549/>.