Dolan Post-Fire BAER

Unit Information

Los Padres National Forest           
U.S. Forest Service
6750 Navigator Way
Goleta, CA 93117

Incident Contact

BAER Information
Phone: 707-853-4243
Hours: 7am-7pm

Dolan Post-Fire BAER Soil Burn Severity Map Released
DOLAN POST-FIRE BAER SOIL BURN SEVERITY MAP RELEASED

Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their data gathering and verification field work of the Dolan Fire burn area.  The Soil Burn Severity map has been finalized.  Soil Burn Severity levels are Unburned/Very Low, Low, Moderate, and High.

The map shows that in the Dolan Fire area, approximately 45% of the 124,326 acres analyzed by the BAER team is either unburned/very low (9%) or low (36%) soil burn severity, while 45% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and 10% burned at high soil burn severity.

The BAER post-fire assessment team uses soil burn severity data to identify if there are areas of concern where increased soil erosion, accelerated surface water run-off, and debris flows have the potential to impact human life/safety, property, and critical natural and cultural resources from storm events. The BAER team consists of Forest Service scientists and specialists that are considering emergency stabilization actions for those critical resources on National Forest System lands.  The BAER team shares their analysis and findings with interagency cooperators who work with private land and business owners to help them prepare for upcoming rain events.

BAER Team Leaders Kevin Cooper and Yonni Schwartz stated, The BAER team expects erosion and run-off within the Dolan Fire area to substantially increase in watersheds that experienced moderate to high soil burn severity. In these areas, there is concern for increased post-fire run-off from steep hillslopes and channels resulting in increases in post-fire soil erosion, hyper-concentrated floods and debris flows.

The Dolan Fire soil burn severity BAER map can be downloaded at the interagency Dolan Post-Fire BAER InciWeb site (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7231) as a JPEG or PDF version under the maps tab.

A “Field Guide for Mapping Post-Fire Soil Burn Severity” can help with interpreting the map and can be found online at http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr243.pdf.

SPECIAL NOTE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains over the burn scars. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events-be prepared to take action. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/mtr/