Rim Fire - Burned Area Emergency Response (1 of 2)

Some wildfires cause damage that if unchecked could jeopardize the ecosystem, watersheds, and even human populations (see U.S. Forest Service on Burned Area Emergency Response). Where there is post fire damage Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) kicks in, the USFS has a webpage with some background information on BAER that may be found here.

It has been a couple of years since I have written about BAER, and when I saw a couple of references on the internet about the Rim Fire BAER, I thought I'd write an article or two about BAER. Recall that the Rim Fire burned 257,314 acres or 402 square miles late last summer and was not fully contained until Oct. 24th.

There are three main stages of rehabilitation after a wildfire (see the Rim Fire - BAER page on inciweb for more information, 

1. fire suppression repair

2. emergency stabilization - BAER

3. long-term recovery and restoration

The latest progress report (Oct 30th, 2013) available to me as I write this on 6 November of BAER accomplishments at the Stanislaus National Forest where the Rim Fire burned may be found on this inciweb page. Among other things, one focus of BAER in the aftermath of the Rim Fire is to prepare for rain.

Stay tuned for more on the Rim Fire BAER in my next article.

Revised on November 19, 2015 to correct URLs to Rim Fire - BAER on Inciweb. I am never quite certain how long such links remain active.