By James Riswick and Melissa Overbeck
Staff Writers
With record amounts of rainfall and colossal mudslides in and around Malibu, wildfires are just about the last thing on most people’s minds. The ground is moist, plants are succulent and temperatures are mild, making the odds of a wildfire comparable to the odds of the Lakers winning the NBA championship.
However, believe it or not, when there’s rain there’s fire. Or at least, there will be fire months down the road. While wildfire is at present a near impossibility, in the long term, this year’s record rain means a much higher chance for wildfires either this fall or in later years because of additional plant growth.
“Rain is good thing and we’ve had twice the normal rain fall this year so you’re going to see more flowers, more greenness and more cover,” said Dr. Stephan Davis, professor of biology and a plant ecologist. “But there is a downside. When plants grow a lot, then there is a more combustible fuel and so the hazard of fire is increased.”
Usually, the main concern to this area is two native plants: chamise and Laurel sumac. The latter of which is referred to as a blowtorch by fire fighters because of its high combustibility and the tendency for it to shoot flames up to 30 feet in the air. However, Davis explained that the heavy rainfall will most likely have a greater effect on weeds and non-native vegetation that is more perceptible to drying out in the Santa Monica Mountain climate.
“Of great concern is that the weeds that invade the area, they are a very fine kindling,” Davis said. “They are a very flashy fuel, very flammable. So they are the kindling or the newspaper that can start the fire. So there is a lot of concern about the weeds that respond to the high rainfall.”
Despite the added vegetation, a severe fire season isn’t necessarily a forgone conclusion. As always with wildfires, there must also be a certain number of other events that must occur to brew a particularly nasty wildfire concoction. Uncontrollable weather events and very controllable human actions combine to determine whether wildfires will begin and spread.
If Southern California experiences another typical summer of drought followed by high temperatures and Santa Ana winds, the probability of fires increases exponentially. However, there is nothing short of prayer that could prevent such meteorological phenomena. Therefore, the ability to prevent fires rests almost solely with those who stand to lose the most in the event of the fire: humans. With roughly 10 million people living in and around the Santa Monica Mountains, the danger is always high for fires to begin: either by arson or a careless smoker.
“The fuel’s there, the wind’s there, there’s high temperatures, the plants are dry and then you have humans by accident or on purpose,” Davis said. “So we have to be very very cautious as humans at that time and we hope people are going to report anything that looks suspicious like arson.”
Aside from keeping watch for any potential arsonists or other fire dangers, there are certainly things that people can do to protect their homes and businesses from fire. The California Department of Forestry and local fire departments often visit property owners, including Pepperdine, and make recommendations for brush clearance and other preventative measures.
“It’s best to do exactly what they say,” Davis said. “Often they will say (to clear brush) 100 feet to 200 feet away from structures and to take the plants down to the soil.”
They also will warn about ornamental plants being placed too close to a home. If place in elevating height, ornamentals can act as a ladder that sends fire upward toward a home’s roof – effectively a kiss of death.
Fortunately for students, Pepperdine has been working closely with the L.A. county fire department to protect the campus from wildfire, according to Rick Leach director of Campus Services. Leach said the University’s policy is to clear brush to a distance of 200 feet, providing a large buffer around the campus.
“Two hundred feet is quite a wide clearance—it’s the widest that is required by the fire department,” Leach said. “Because we’re in such this most hazardous zone, [the fire department] requires that distance of us. ..There’s more growth [this year] so its going to take longer to [clear the brush to that level], and it’s going to be more work, but were going to be in good shape for the fall.”
Clearing the brush is a big task. Every plant in the 200-foot buffer zone must be cut almost to the ground. Pepperdine employs a brush clearance crew of eight temporary workers for the task. It takes those employees three to four months to clear all the brush around Pepperdine’s campus.
“We basically cut to mineral earth,” Leach said, “which means within four inches of the dirt. We leave some of the native plants that we are required to leave…but we cut down most of it.”
In addition, the university purposely selects plants in landscaping that are not very flammable, according to Cash Reed, Pepperdine’s Fire Captain.
“The way that they landscape the campus, they’ve spent an enormous amount of money trying to find vegetation that is less likely to spark fire or continue the growth of the fire,” Reed said.
If a fire does start, however, there really isn’t much that can be done other than to attempt to slow it down and divert it away from buildings. Davis equates wildfires with any other natural disaster like an earthquake, tsunami or hurricane.
“To put (a fire) out, it’s impossible even with all the advanced technology,” Davis said. “The prudent thing to do is to control the path of the fire. That it goes around structures. In remote areas, on high mountains, in deep valleys, let it burn because you can’t put it out.”
Reed said that in the event of a fire, Pepperdine Fire department has an agreement to work with all of the surrounding counties’ fire departments to control the fire.
“There are mutual aid agreements that go throughout the county and other adjoining counties to help get forces in to fight fires…They’ve also really increased the staffing in the area to … help prevent fires,” Reed said.
This agreement, along with the preparations that the university has taken in its landscaping, makes the campus very safe.
“This is a very safe campus,” Reed said. “It has been designed that way. That is why [the L.A. County fire departments and others] use Pepperdine as an incident command center during major fires.”
Although there’s nothing than can truly stop the fire, it is possible to limit the damage.
“(Firefighters) control the perimeter,” Davis said. “You determine where the fire will eventually challenge the structures and you work the perimeter as the fire moves around. Hopefully you will have limited damage.”
One of the worst fires Pepperdine ever experienced was in 1985 when the University population was forced to evacuate into Firestone Fieldhouse when fire came up and over the surrounding mountains. That fire came in the wake of an El Niño, which produced heavy rains similar to those experienced this year, and subsequent added plant growth.
Since that fire, Pepperdine has learned a lot about fire prevention including how to control plant growth. This can best be seen at the new Drescher campus, which features few ornamental trees and vegetation placed further away from buildings.
Should Pepperdine and Malibu experience another severe fire season in the near future, as always, there is only so much fire fighters can do to prevent what is essentially a natural disaster. With enough preparation and foresight to clear away potentially dangerous new plant growth and other hazards, the damage can certainly be minimized. But it also might not be a bad idea to remember than when there’s rain, there’s fire.
05-25-2005