san diego wildfires
DESCRIPTION
San Diego Wildifires Powerpoint for Environmental Sociology courseTRANSCRIPT
San Diego Wildfires
Meghan Caldwell, Christa Cardish, Krista Malewicz and
Franchel Mendoza
San Diego Community
• San Diego is a large community with a population of about 2.5-3 million in 2006.
• In 2006 there were about 1,200,000
households. • It is the seventh largest city in the United
States.
Community Profile
• One of the most popular industries in San Diego is the educational services/ health care industry.
• There is some poverty in San Diego, but many of the people are well off. – in 2006, there were about 70,000 people who
were unemployed.
Area Profile
• San Diego has various landforms– San Diego is a bay and has miles of
shorelines. – Also mountains, fertile valleys, canyons and
dense forests.
• Climate consists of cooler summers and warmer winters– Due to the winds off of the Pacific Ocean
Wildfires: Causes
• There are many contributions to forest fires, both due to humans and natural causes.
– Man’s negligence– Forces of nature– Earthquakes (1906 San Francisco earthquake)– Arson– Weather (temperature, humidity, precipitation, and
wind)
Causes in San Diego
• Major contributing climate factors to the extreme fire conditions were drought, hot weather, and unusually strong winds.
• Several fires were triggered by power lines damaged by the high winds. – One fire started by a overturned semi-truck– Another was reported deliberately caused– A 10-year-old boy admitted that he accidentally started
the Buckweed Fire playing with matches.
77 outbuildings 100%21 firefighters
143 homes
50,176 acres (203.06 km²)
October 23 at 3:13 a.m.
Poomacha (Palomar Mountain/Valley Center)
21 civilians253 structures
damaged
34 firefighters252 outbuildings
100%
5 deaths206 homes
90,440 acres (366 km²)
October 21 at 9:30 a.m.Harris
25 outbuildings
damaged
70 homes damaged
2 civilians239 vehicles
39 firefighters414 outbuildings
100%
2 deaths1040 homes
197,990 acres (801 km²)
October 21 at 11:00 a.m.Witch (Creek)
Containment
InjuriesStructures destroyedArea burnedDate / time started
Fire name
San Diego County
100% 100 acres
(0.40 km²)23-OctWilcox
100% on Oct. 22 2 outbuildings
250 acres (1.01 km²)
October 22 at 1:50 a.m.Coronado Hills
1 outbuilding 100%
1 residence
300 acres (1.21 km²)21-OctMcCoy
40 outbuildings
2 commercial properties
100%5 firefighters
206 homes
9,000 acres (36.4 km²)
October 22 at 4:16 a.m.Rice
100%6 firefighters 21,084 acres
(85.32 km²)24-OctHorno/Ammo
ContainmentInjuriesStructures destroyedArea burned
Date / time startedFire name
San Diego County
Recommendations
• It is important to understand that wildfires may occur as a natural process.
– It can be a way that the environment can cleanse itself. The key is to look at long term solutions.
• These solutions will place an emphasis on the root causes of extreme wildfires and how to minimize the impact on communities
Recommendations
• Make a change in fire suppression policies.– North American forest management policies and
practices have had the unfortunate consequence of creating conditions that make forest fires burn hotter and more severe.
– During this time, fires have been put out as quickly as possible in order to “protect” timber and private property.
• The problem is that this allows dead plant matter (dead trees, fallen branches, leaves, small shrubs, brush) to collect on the ground. So instead of small fires that occur frequently, we end up with large fires that create incredible damage.”
Recommendations
• There must be a change to how we design our communities. – More and more people are moving further
and further into forested areas – ‘wildland-urban interface:’ increases the
chance of contact with fire and reduces firefighting resources.
• Continuation of education on how to prevent man-made fires and a stronger effort to prevent climate change.
Blog
• Sociological aim is to look at how communities are designed and the role of human domination vs. nature domination.– Communities are no longer feeling disconnected from
nature because natural disasters are on the increase.
• Organizations and aid.
• Blog: San Diego Wildfires