PbP Planting a Greener Future Blog Series #2: WILDFIRES
This post is written by Winnie Fong, PbP-LA Chapter President. Winnie is an urban planner at Estolano Advisors with a focus on transportation, housing, and environmental justice.
PbP Steering Committee members with TreePeople increasing climate and fire-resilience of the Angeles National Forest (August 2021)
It’s currently wildfire season (June through September) and PbP steering committee members spent two Sundays this August volunteering with TreePeople to help restore the Santa Clara Watershed area impacted by the 2002 Copper Fire at the San Francisquito Canyon of the Angeles National Forest. We treated native chaparral plants, which provide critical habitat and forage for local wildlife and offer fire and drought resilience to our local mountains. See photos of our volunteering experience below! Interested in volunteering with TreePeople? Sign up by visiting their website here.
Wildfires can start and spread in many ways, including high temperatures, low humidity, lack of rainfall, dry vegetation, and fast winds. But all it takes is an ignition source, fuel and oxygen to start a fire. Environmental impacts of wildfires include the loss of wildlife and natural habitat, damaged property, and polluting the air with emissions harmful to human health. Here are some interesting facts and useful resources about everything you need to know and understand about wildfires.
Wonder how wildfires start, spread, and how to stop them? LA Times, Washington Post, and the National Geographic have all of your questions answered and explained.
Track current wildfires throughout California in this interactive wildfire map with up-to-date information on fire origins, hot spots, fire perimeters, evacuation zones and the spread of air pollution.
Dixie, Caldor, Monument, Haypress, French are the current largest wildfires happening right now in California (as of August 2021). Wonder how these fires get their names? Read up on it here.
If you live in areas prone to wildfires, read up on how to prepare for the wildfire season in Southern California before, during and after evacuation. Here are additional resources: Red Cross, L.A. County Fire Department, and Cal Fire.
