2020 wildfire season: Bobcat Fire Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER)

 Now that the Bobcat Fire is at 96 percent containment at 115,796 acres, Burned Area Emergency Response (aka BAER) has begun. I have written about BAER on previous occasions, mostly about BAER on specific wildfires (go here for these posts). It has been awhile since I last wrote about BAER and knowing that the area burned by the Bobcat Fire will be undergoing BAER, I wanted to write about this today. First, here is a short video from the National Park Service Fire and Aviationwith a general description of BAER to give you a brief idea about what BAER is about.

Direct link to video from National Park Service Fire and Aviation

There are three phases of wildfire recovery (obtained from Inciweb Page on Bobcat Fire BAER information on October 14, 2020.

1. Fire Suppression Repair 


2. Emergency Stabilization-Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) 


3. Long-Term Recovery and Restoration 


Fire Suppression Repair is a series of immediate post-fire actions taken to repair damages and minimize potential soil erosion and impacts resulting from fire suppression activities and usually begins before the fire is contained, and before the demobilization of an Incident Management Team. This work repairs the hand and dozer fire lines, roads, trails, staging areas, safety zones, and drop points used during fire suppression efforts. 


Emergency Stabilization-Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) is a rapid assessment of burned watersheds by a BAER team to identify imminent post-wildfire threats to human life and safety, property, and critical natural or cultural resources on National Forest System lands and take immediate actions to implement emergency stabilization measures before the first post-fire damaging events. Fires result in loss of vegetation, exposure of soil to erosion, and increased water runoff that may lead to flooding, increased sediment, debris flows, and damage to critical natural and cultural resources. BAER actions such as: mulching, seeding, installation of erosion and water run-off control structures, temporary barriers to protect recovering areas, and installation of warning signs may be implemented. BAER work may also replace safety related facilities; remove safety hazards; prevent permanent loss of habitat for threatened and endangered species; prevent the spread of noxious weeds, and protect critical cultural resources. 


Long-Term Recovery and Restoration utilizes non-emergency actions to improve fire-damaged lands that are unlikely to recover naturally and to repair or replace facilities damaged by the fire that are not critical to life and safety. This phase may include restoring burned habitat, reforestation, other planting or seeding, monitoring fire effects, replacing burned fences, interpreting cultural sites, treating noxious weed infestations, and installing interpretive signs. 

The Inciweb page for the Bobcat Fire BAER has additional information, including a soil burn severity map, mapping damage to the soil from the fire and key elements of a BAER assessment. I will keep an eye on the Bobcat Fire BAER progress and make further posts.