Lab #8: Los Angeles Station Fire

The Station Fire started in the Angeles National Forest near the U.S. Forest Service ranger station on the Angeles Crest Highway, which is the California State Highway No. 2. The Station Fire started on August 25, 2009 and it ended on October 16, 2009. More than 160,00 acres and 209 structures were destroyed. In this wildfires, there were two firefighters killed while attempting to escape the flames when their fire truck plunged off a cliff. The wildfire costs the state over $93.8 million to fight. The map above showed the spread of the fire from Aug 29 2009 to Sep 02 2009. It was the first week of the wildfire started. The map shows that the fire was spreading from the south to the north and the area was getting much larger than the previous time. Some of the features on the map such as river and streams, and major highways will refer to my writing on the consequences of the Station Fire.
In this map, it shows several features with cities, river and streams, major highways, and the California park. The Station Fire has affected the mostly the California State highway No. 2. From the map, most of the part of highway No. 2 is in the area of the station fire. The Station Fire also affected many of the rivers and streams system as shown above. And the large park area as shown in the map above is affected by the Station Fire. Several cities on the map such as Altadena, La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta Montrose are so close to the Station Fire or even inside the fire perimeters. The fire has affected many area or living things in Los Angeles.
The Station Fire affects many aspects in Los Angeles. First, the smoke from the Station Fire rose over downtown Los Angeles. Residents of Los Angeles were contending with thick smoke and ash hanging in the air, causing air quality to drop to unhealthy levels. Many residents in Los Angeles caused sick or respiratory diseases with the smoke. Los Angeles is one of the busiest county in California. The Station Fire caused the California Highway No. 2 to be closed. Although it is not the busiest highway in California, many Los Angeles residents use this freeway to by-pass the traffic in peak hours. This burdens the heavy traffic in peak hours in Los Angeles. 
The map shows that the river and streams system was affected by the Station Fire as long as the Station Fire happened in the park. It must affected the living habitat and living things around there. The first thing is the huge amount of forest lost to Station Fire. The Station Fire was happened in the Angeles National Forest in which the location of the valuable forest. What have caught my attention are the dozens of prized outdoor recreation spots in the Angeles National Forest now consigned to memory, obliterated in the furnace of the wildfire. Some locations like the famous Vetter Mountain Lookout of the San Gabriels’ chaparral-covered slopes, meadows, streams, forests, and Mojave Desert and L.A. Basin views. Moreover, thousands of acres of old-growth chaparral were lost, and as is the case with the frequent fire pattern currently at work in Southern California, the way has been cleared for aggressive, non-native grasses and other plants to move in, increasing the risk of fire in the near future, and making it more difficult for the natural ecosystem of the region to re-establish itself. Since fires become more frequent in Southern California, it seems people will forget California’s chaparral.
In conclusion, the Station Fire affects many aspects of lives in California, from the Los Angeles's resident's health to the living things around the Angeles National Forest. Is there a possible way to control the happening of fire? There are many factors causing fire such as the climate of California and human neglect. One interesting fact is that wildfire is supposed to happen because it is the main natural disturbance. The fire is actually beneficial to the re-growth of plants.


Reference:
1. “2009 California Wildfires.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 1 Nov. 2010. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_California_wildfires>.
2. "Wildfires in Southern California" The Big Picture-News stories in photographs, 2 Sep 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/09/wildfires_in_southern_californ.html>
3. "Consequences of the Station Fire" Treehuggers International. 27 Sep 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2010
<http://treehuggersintl.com/2009/consequences-station-fire/>
4."'Angry fire' roars across 100,000 California acres". CNN U.S. 31 Aug 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2010
<http://articles.cnn.com/2009-08-31/us/california.wildfires_1_mike-dietrich-firefighters-safety-incident-commander?_s=PM:US>
5. "Huge amount of forest lost to Station Fire" Los Angeles Times. Aug 30 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2010
<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/08/huge-amounts-of-forest-lost-to-station-fire.html>
6. "Empty debris basins wait for Station Fire's winter impact" Southern California Public Radio 89.3 KPCC. 16 Nov 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2010
<http://www.scpr.org/news/2009/11/16/station-county/>