Geography 7 Lab 8

       

        The largest station fire was happened in the Los Angeles County since the late afternoon of August 26, 2009. The fire widespread was last for almost a week until September 2, 2009. According to the news, about 209 structures and 89 residence houses were destroyed. Also, the fire took the lives of 2 firefighters and threatened more than million residents around the area. The DEM reference map shows the spread of station fire from August 28 2:48am to September 2 7:02am. We can understand the seriousness and influence of the station fire to the county. The fire blazed through a total of 160,577 acres, spanning from north La Canada to Flintridge. Not only building structures were destroyed, but also transportation structures, such as road, interstate highway, and major roads, were destroyed, affected, or forced to close during the station fire.

        With one of the most complicated and advanced transportation network around the world, roads and interstate highways played a very important role during the station fire. As seen from the thematic maps, the closest cities to the station fire, such as Acton, Glendale, and Littlerock, were well separated or obstructed from the site. Not only saving the lives of citizens and building structures, but also those transportation networks were used to send or reinforce firefighters or medical support to the site.

        Although highways, roads, and railroad served as an important factor for preventing the further widespread of the station fire, it still caused heavy and direct damages. Angeles Crest Highway is one the examples to show the influences of station fire on nearby transportation network. Specifically between the region of Islip Saddle and La Canada Flintridge, the street lines were being cut and destructed the ground surfaces, railing, and road signs. As shown on the thematic map of major road (not on the highway one because Angeles Crest Highway is not an interstate highway), the Angeles Crest Highway is right across the fire site. The fact that this freeway is frequently used by LA residents to travel between La Canada Flintridge and Wrightwood, but the highway was closed by Caltrans until November 30, 2009. The two firefighters were also died around the Angeles Crest Highway because of heavy smoke from the site. Their vision was blocked and led them driving off the road.

        As shown on the thematic map of railway, a section in San Gabriel Mountain is found very near or even keep in touch to the fire site. The close contact with the fire would probably result in vision distortion. Although no reports or news stated that there was any damage to the railways, the closest part of the railway was only half a mile away from the station fire on September 9, 2009. Very possible and high risk damage to the railways could be predicted. As shown on the last thematic map of interstate highways, luckily they were not damaged. The 210 highway was the closest one to the station fire which was only one mile away from the September 9, 2009 fire. Similar as the major roads and railways, a large part of the 210 was suffering from smoke which may block the sight or vision of vehicle drivers. Airports nearby were also restricted or closed due to the spread of smoke.

        The fire effects on transportation networks were lasted for a long time after the incident. Major roads around the site were still closed for weeks to months to prevent the damages from mudslides. The fire site was at high risk of mudslides because lack of vegetation roots to hold the soil after the passing through of fire. Overall, the station fire affected the nearby communities and transportation network and the activities were actually limited since the major roads across the cities were closed.

References 

"Station Fire". InciWeb (United States Forest Service). September 4, 2009. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2009.

<http://inciweb.org/incident/1856/>.

"New fire breaks out near Angeles Crest Highway; forces road closure". Pasadena Star-News. August 26, 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2009.

<http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/rds_search/ci_13209642?IADID=Search-www.pasadenastarnews.com-www.pasadenastarnews.com>.

 "Firefighters Killed in 'Station Fire' Remembered". KTLA-TV (Channel 5). September 1, 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2009.

<http://ktla.com/>.

Garrison, Jessica, Alexandra Zavis, and Joe Mozingo. "Station Fire Claims 18 Homes and Two Firefighters." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 13 June 2012. <http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/31/local/me-fire31>.

 "Station Fire Morning Update Sept. 8, 2009". InciWeb (United States Forest Service). September 8, 2009. Archived from the original on September 30, 2009. Retrieved September 8, 2009.

<http://inciweb.org/incident/article/9481/>.