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