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Specialists look at burn area

November 12, 2003
Santa Paula News

In the aftermath of the southern California firestorms, an interagency team of national emergency rehab specialists has converged on the area and set up operations to take on the safety hazards and threats caused by the fires.

In the aftermath of the southern California firestorms, an interagency team of national emergency rehab specialists has converged on the area and set up operations to take on the safety hazards and threats caused by the fires. Several teams -- of 20 or more specialists from several states and a number of agencies -- will spend the next few weeks assessing and eliminating threats to the people and the land affected by the fires.The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) teams are federal teams coordinating closely with a number of local area agencies and experts, drawing on local knowledge of the area and resources, and focusing on priority needs and hazard prevention.Many wildfires cause minimal damage to the land and pose few threats to either the people or the land downstream. But some fires cause damage that requires special intensive efforts to prevent problems. The loss of trees and other vegetation puts soil at risk of erosion, water runoff can increase and cause flooding, and sediments can move downstream and damage houses or fill reservoirs -- putting people or threatened species or community water supplies at risk.The BAER program deals with these risks immediately after a fire. The goals of the BAER team include protecting life, property, water quality, and deteriorated ecosystems. Hydrology teams have been on the ground this week, assessing canyons and hillsides above streams and residential areas, and prioritizing projects to protect watersheds and ensure safety.
This BAER operation is unusual in both its scope and its initial activation - BAER funding, which generally totals about 5 percent of the suppression costs of a large fire, usually is approved after the team’s initial assessment. Because of the scope and severity of these fires, though, initial funding of nearly a half million dollars was approved even before the team’ ;s initial assessment.For further information on the teams and their progress and how you can get involved, check the BAER team website at www.fs.fed.us/baer/ and the website of the San Bernardino Joint Information Center at www.esri.com/jicfire/.Assistance is available through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Emergency Watershed Protection Program for public and private landowners who have been affected by the fires or need to reduce imminent flooding hazards. Further information is available at www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov.