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Post date: Nov 09, 2020 6:56:34 AM
Wildfire Resources for the Santa Monica Mountains (November 2020)
North Topanga Canyon Fire Safe Council (NTCFSC)
NTCFSC was sanctioned as a Fire Safe Council in 2010. It has been awarded 6 grants and has brought over $365,000 into Topanga and the Santa Monica Mountains. All grants have focused on (1) Safer Roadways: Removal of large-scale fire hazardous vegetation; (2) Wildfire Education: Community, Neighborhood and Mentoring programs; and (3) Safer Homes and Neighborhoods: Home Ignition Zone Evaluation Program.
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/ntcfsc/
Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness (TCEP)
TCEP was formed after the 1993 Old Topanga fire and has created the following teams: Neighborhood Network; Emergency Operations Center; Hot Line; Disaster Radio Team... and co-chairs the Topanga Emergency Management (TEM) Taskforce with LA County Office of Emergency Management. TEM is the organization that created the Topanga Disaster Survival (see below).
Website: tcep.org
Topanga Disaster Survival Guide
This is the 3rd version of this document. It was distributed in 2017 to all mailing addresses in Topanga.
link: https://topangasurvival.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/disastersurvivalguide2017complete.pdf
Sustainable Defensible Space: Eco-appropriate Homescaping for Wildfire Resilience Website published October 2020 specifically for the Santa Monica Mountains, created with a grant from CalFire and in collaboration with many agencies (see the bottom of the home page for the list). State of the art. Link: https://defensiblespace.org/
Chaparral Fires: Ecology and Future Regiments by Dr. Jon Keeley
Dr. Keeley is a fire ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and adjunct professor at UCLA. He discusses the responses of chaparral shrublands to fires and how historical changes in fire have impacted chaparral distribution. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF0uAypGAUk&feature=youtu.be
Brochures:
Be Ember Aware (University of Reno Cooperative Extension): http://www.livingwithfire.info/be-ember-aware
Protect Your Property from Wildfire - Southern California Edition (Institute for Business & Home Safety): https://disastersafety.org/wildfire/
Ready Set Go (published by LA County Fire Department): http://fire.lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Ready-set-go_051420.pdf
Other Links:
California Fire Safe Council: https://cafiresafecouncil.org/
Firewise Communities/USA: https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Wildfire/Firewise-USA
Prescribed Fires are a Bad Idea for the Santa Monica Mountains https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/management/prescribedfires.htm
Wildfire Outcome Studies that Conclude Individuals Can Make a Difference:
2016 Fort McMurray fire in Alberta Canada. 81% of the homes that survived had a FireSmart Canada rating of "low to moderate" - meaning that they were well-prepared for wildfire. Most of the homes destroyed had "high to extreme" FireSmart ratings. https://issuu.com/iclr/docs/westhaver_fort_mcmurray_final_2017
2012 Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado: Case Study with great detail and info: https://fireadapted.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/waldo-canyon-report.pdf and a video about the pre-fire mitigation efforts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p9VYKoq3qE
Santa Monica Mountains Community Wildfire Protection Plan Final Version (2013): https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/management/upload/SMM_CWPP_02MAY2012_FINAL_v3.pdf Draft Version (very different and has interesting information in it): https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/36691964.pdf
Study of the Combustibility of Landscape Mulches, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension https://naes.agnt.unr.edu/PMS/Pubs/1510_2011_95.pdf?utm_source=publications&utm_medium=pub-download&utm_campaign=pub-link-clicks&utm_content=2982
NFPA/Firewise USA Research Fact Sheet Series https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Wildfire/Firewise-USA/Firewise-USA-Resources/Research-Fact-Sheet-Series
Also, besides the sources already mentioned, you can find up to date maps and fire related information on all fires on the sites linked below, including where to find an open Red Cross shelter:
https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/ctid/201
https://ucanr.edu/sites/fire/Wildfire_Health_-_Safety/Current/
https://www.fs.fed.us/science-technology/fire/information
https://www.redcross.org/get-help/disaster-relief-and-recovery-services/find-an-open-shelter.html
Important Apps
Pulsepoint Respond: https://www.pulsepoint.org/download Monitors 911 calls; by pushing relevant fire notifications to your phone you get the earliest notification possible. TECP (www.tcep.org) has setup instructions. http://t-cep.org/docs/Pulsepoint%20set%20up.pdf
Windy Website and app https://windy.app Visually see the wind direction and forecasted changes.
Follow TCEP on Twitter and have their tweets pushed to your phonMonitors 911 calls; by pushing relevant fire notifications to your phone you get the earliest notification possible. TECP (www.tcep.org) has setup instructions http://t-cep.org/fbdocs/TwitterSetup102417.pdf
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