A question about the California fires:

[hedgehog]

Has anyone ever proposed burning back the brush in a controlled fashion during the wet season? Is that even possible?

[Adsos Letter]

1. CDF has a minimum distance in which brush is to be kept

away from structures...I think it is 100 feet...

[AZBlue]

2. The brush won't burn like they need it to unless it's very dry.

It has to be charred to a crisp, so to speak, to prevent it from reigniting in the future. But, I do wonder why some prescribed fires weren't already done in CA earlier this year.

[hedgehog]

5. I've seen references to overgrown brush.

Did it always only burn in the dry season? Were there some animals that kept it cropped that are now missing?

[AZBlue]

12. If they are referring to it as overgrown brush, it probably should have been trimmed or

removed and wasn't. Many homeowners here in AZ and I'm sure CA too don't follow the guidelines that are set and in the process endanger their homes.

(just to clarify - I'm not blaming anyone here or saying they deserve it - I'm not on that bandwagon, LOL)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I believe that some small-scale burning has been done...

But I don't think it's been done on a large scale.

The areas involved are vast...

:shrug:

[hedgehog]

4. I'm wondering if this is a money problem.

[cboy4]

10. It might be a budget issue, because CalFire shuts

down numerous stations and releases seasonal firefighters, including tanker and chopper pilots once fire season has ended.

Another reason could be the risk of embers landing on homes, etc.

Keep in mind, even when there's not a severe drought, the wet season isn't really all that wet in Southern California.

That probably accounts for why there are generally more major fires in the Southland, than in Northern California.

[walldude]

13. Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner...

I have no facts to back you up, but with all the wildfires in recent years you know somebody came up with a way to lower the risk but it got shot down due to a lack of funds. I do know that there have been big budget cuts to first responders, that in itself can't be helping.

[begin_within]

6. They do have prescribed burns at certain times of the year. They also use goats

to eat the brush and have found that to be very effective in some areas. They are always reminding homeowners to clear an area around their homes - 100 feet from any building - to create a "defensible space" for the firefighters to work with. Larger if it is on a slope. Homes that have have this defensible space have a clearly higher survival rate.

[aquart]

14. Unlike the Malibu homes which were built almost on top of each other.

Which is always a problem where a square foot is so expensive.

Maybe they need to rezone before they rebuild? Less footage in the house so the house has a chance of survival?

I know every change my sister made to her garden and her house was with an eye to fire survival. Praying it works.

[begin_within]

15. Probably in Malibu they are still going to be packed in like sardines,

because as you said, real estate is extremely expensive there. I thought people would have learned from the disastrous Cedar Fire 4 years ago to create a defensible space around their houses by removing all flammable vegetation for 100 feet in every directcion, but by what happened today it's obvious many people did not, or else did not believe that the fire would ever reach them. The only real way to prevent the fire is to remove the fuel, and that requires a lot of work and/or expense to clear the brush out, and it has to be maintained like that year after year, because it will just grow back.

[aquart]

21. Expensive or not, they have to cut back square footage inside.

The insurance companies can force it if the city won't.

[whoneedstickets]

7. Its all about the wind. With winds like they have, fire can jump....

..hundreds of yards or more. Everything an ember lands on is bone dry.

[XemaSab]

8. There are recommended brush clearance levels

People ignore them because they want to live in the country. :(

[Fresh_Start]

9. so cal didn't have its normal winter rains

only about 2" I think for this entire year since January.

Rainy season isn't really 'wet'. California gets rain but because the climate is so dry, its absorbed into the ground or evaporates usually the same day. You never really get sustained dampness.

[Ecumenist]

17. That's not true in all of California. The difference between alot of northern California

and Southern is literally night and day. Alot of Southern California is desert. that's the real problem. The water that serves that part of the state comes from the Colorado or from us in the north state.

[Adsos Letter]

11. It's those Santa Ana winds that make this so dangerous...

My Grandfather, my Dad, and 5 of my uncles were CDF...Santa Ana winds always meant trouble to them...a fire could move so fast that all the crews could do was get out of the way and try to contain the perimeters...

It's exceptionally dangerous work, what with the smoke, heat, geography, etc.

[Ecumenist]

16. I know that in northern California, it is VERY wet in the wet season...

So, I don't know if that would work. The major problem would be the issues of air quality and there would quite an outcry from a whole lot of folks. Alot of the places that are burning in the southland are in wildland interface areas where that may not be an option. Alot of those areas are in canyons that are VERY rugged and almost vertical. There are alot of issues that prevent that type of back burning.

[Adsos Letter]

18. My CDF relatives were all in the northern part of the state...

...weedeaters and brushcutters (sometimes small tractors) were the normal way, not backburning :) and you're right, the terrain there is probably not helpful for these measures.

[bridgit]

19. yes, but sadly, Santa Ana winds can easily skip patterns of required easements...

:(

[Hekate]

20. It's called "controlled burns" or "prescribed burns" and must only be done at certain times...

It is one tool of forestry management.

Interestingly enough since California evolved to burn, there are certain seeds whose coats will only crack open and germinate if they have passed through fire -- but it has to be at the right season. If the seed contains too much moisture it will steam to death inside its coat. So the whole issue of using fire to manage forests is a very tricky one.

As for dwelling places near the wildland-interface, there are numerous rules for homeowners enforced by the fire department. Certain kinds of vegetation are not recommended, and plantings must be so many yards from the house. An overgrowth of brush or weeds is dangerous.

Hekate