Lab 8

Report of 2009 Station Fire

The two maps above are showing the topography of Los Angeles and the extent of 2009 Station Fire in August and September. According to the maps, we can tell that the main on fire region is the Southwest part of the Angeles Nation Forest. The fire started on August 26 afternoon, caused by unknown arsonist, initially ignited on the forest near the Angeles Crest Fire Station, on the Angeles Crest Highway. The surrounding environment was very dry and in steep terrain(see the map of elevation) cover with highly flammable vegetation, which was mature chaparral, at least 50 years old, standing six to eight feet tall (United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, 2009). Finally, until it was declared contained on October 16, the station fire destroyed 89 houses, killed two firefighters and burned more than 160,000 acres of land in Los Angeles County (United States Government Accountability Office, 2011). 

        Then, I am going to talk about the threat and risk of the station fire. Known as the largest wildfire in the history of Los Angeles County, the station fire caused huge negative effects on residents’ properties, surrounding public facilities and even people’s health. Fortunately, according to the Los Angeles population density map, the on fire region has a low population, therefore, no residents was hurt, except two firefighters. However, since most houses in fire region are used by owners them selves, whose household income is usually in high level, the houses were all well built and decorated. Therefore, the cost of those 89 destroyed houses is huge.

                    

        In addition, the fire also threaded the public facilities, such as highway, TV signal towers and observatory on Mountain Wilson. Just like what the maps and the government report show, the fire region is really close to the highway nearby, once even crossed the Angeles Crest Highway (GAO, 2011). That create many problems for fire engines to get to the proper fire spot and the steep terrain also makes helicopters hard to reach the right place. 

        From the other two maps, we can find that there are two TV signal towers and an observatory on Mountain Wilson, where is really close to the fire region. During the station fire, those facilities were under huge threat. Serious damage could interrupt cellphone service, television and radio programming for those who receive signals over the air, as well as some emergency law enforcement communications (Knoll & Becerra, 2009). “A lot of people think of an observatory as one dome, but Mt. Wilson Observatory is actually a 40-acre tract of land with 50 to 60 buildings on it,” McAlister (2010) said. “None of that stuff is portable, and to move telescopes out of there takes many weeks. We're strictly at the mercy of nature and the great competence of the firefighters.” The observatory houses multimillion-dollar astronomy projects for UCLA, USC and UC Berkeley. Therefore, the station fire could also cause serious economic loss the society on the fields of science research.

          Last and most important thing is about residents' health. When people expose to the wildfire, the smoke can hurt people's respiratory tract and lead to many sequelae. The professionals calculated that one need to pay $84.42 per exposed per son per day to recover from the problems made by wildfire smoke (Richardson, Champ & Loomis, 2012)

         In conclusion, the 2009 station fire put huge risk and threat on many fields of our society including personal properties, public facilities and even human health.

Reference

Knoll, C. & Becerra, H. (2009). TV signals from Mt. Wilson at risk. Los Angeles Times.

McAlister, H. A. (2010). Diary of a Fire: The 2009 Station Fire Threat to Mount Wilson Observatory

Richardson, L. A., Champ, P. A. & Loomis, J. B. (2012). The hidden cost of wildfires: Economic valuation of health effects of wildfire smoke exposure in Southern California. Journal of Forest Economics, 18, 14–35.

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service (2009). Fire and Aviation Management Station Fire Initial Attack Review. Report of the Review Panel.

United States Government Accountability Office (2011). Forest Service’s Response Offers Potential Lessons for Future Wildland Fire Management. Report to Congressional Requester. 

lab 7

Lab 7: Census 2000/2010

Population of Asian in U.S. (in percent)

        This map is about the distribution of Asian in U.S.. In this map, darker the yellow is, higher the percentage of Asian population is in that area. We can obviously find that most Asians live in California, Washington and east coast around New York. I believe that the distribution of Asian is mostly effected by economy. According to U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2012 Annual Social and Economic Supplements, household income of Asian for 2011 is $65,129, while the average income of all races is $50,054. We can say that the Asian in U.S. is usually pretty rich who is willing to have a higher standard life and earn more money. Therefore, it is very easy to understand why Asian prefer to live in New York, California and Washington, since these places contain well developed cities and nice environment, which can provide a higher life standard and more business opportunities.

  

Population of Black in U.S. (in percent)

        This map is about the distribution of black in U.S.. In this map, darker the grey is, higher the percentage of black population is in that area. According to this map, states in southeastern part of America, such as Mississippi, Alabama and Geogia, are where Black people mostly live in. In my opinion, there are two reasons which lead to this knd of distribution. First reason is related to the history of black. Before the Civil War, most black were living in the South, although many of them moved to the North after the war, there were still many left and keep living in there. The second reason is about economy. As U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2012 Annual Social and Economic Supplements say, the household income of a black family in 2011 is $32,229, while the average of all races is $50,054. Then we can see that most black are having relativly pool lives. Therefore, they tend to stay in the states which are not so developed and cost less to live.

Population of Other Race in U.S. (in percent)

        This map is about the distribution of other races in U.S.. In this map, darker the purple is, higher the percentage of other race population is in that area. We can find that people from other races prefer to live in Southwestern part of America. Races in America other than Asian, Black and White is mostly Hispanic, many of whom are from Central and South America. So, I think that the environment and international relationship are the main reasons of their population distribution. Since most Hispanic come to America from the country boundary between Mexico and America, they would get into New Mexico and Texas. While those immigrants are usually not very rich, they will need to find a job as soon as possible. Then, they will probably settle down in those states. As a result, the density of other races people is highest in these area.