Angeles Crest Highway after the Station Fire

The is their first drive up the Angeles Crest Highway by Hal and Susan McAlister on 3 Sep 09 to join staff at the Mount Wilson Observatory. We were escorted by LA County Sheriff's deputies. We were stunned by what we saw and inattentive to keeping the little Video flip camera stable and accurately pointed. The devastation speaks for itself.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Station Fire
• Mount Wilson Observatory
• Angeles Crest Highway

[teresamcgrath04]

im in a way glad it burned ... its part of nature... it helps the vegetation renew it self

[ihmen]

the person filming this video has a vagina

[smokey1255]

Unfortunately, as more dead fuel builds up in areas that haven't burned in many years, the fires that eventually burn the area will burn much hotter than "naturally" occuring fires and the damage to the root system of heavier chaparral species will be worse. Consequently regrowth will take longer and flooding will be worse. Statistically, nuch less than 10% of SOCAL fires are natural. When humans were not part of the ecosystem, fires were few and buildup wasn't as important.

[Inyo395]

Oops, note to my post below, mustard is not a grass, it makes it look like i said it was. anyway, fires at the frequency of 10 years or less in chaparral result in the proliferation of annual invasive herbs. They burn more frequently than chaparral and also have shallow roots. So, if they take over, you can expect more fires AND more mudslides and floods. Unfortunately, this is what has been happening in many areas of chaparral.

[Inyo395]

TwoNuLator, sorry, but you are wrong about that. The fire return interval you refer to is for montane conifer forests, but the part of the San Gabriel Mountains that burned was predominantly chaparral vegetation. This area probably burned every 30-100 years or so before the 'adaptation of the fire department'. Also, back then the area did not have mustard, ripgut brome, and other invasive grasses.

[lcalarea47]

alot of wildlife killed . from fire and the smoke .

[birgitte333]

hello from Acton.

They're planning to replant part of the burnt out area. I don't know how you could be glad it burnt down. We don't get that much rain so it might never grow back the same.

[Haik000]

@teresamcgrath04 Ya i agree. I was sad when it was burning down, but it is good cuz now all the dryed up plants are gone and now theres gunna be much more green vegetation!

[afrodDzee]

There needs to be an investigation into the Forest Services response to this fire. There needs to be a full accountability for all involved in starting this fire and letting it burn out of control. Thousands of acres of public property are virtually unusable to us for a decade or more.

[818LAL]

fck!

[twonulator]

That is not true of California. Due to the adaptation of the fire department, natural fires have been happening less and less frequently. They are almost completely controlled. This causes more and more build up of debris, making the fires that are triggered by arson even more intense and devastating. Natural fires should happen within more than 10 year intervals, nature controls it very well and we have altered the pattern that it had set for the area we live in.

[Inyo395]

it is true that chaparral is renewed by occasional fire but due to arsonists and invasive plants, fires are happening far more often than they naturally would in many areas. The 40 year old vegetation that burned will come back just fine, but in areas that have already burned in the last 10 years, native vegetation will be killed off and shallow-rooted invasive weeds will take over, which is a shame.