Seismic monitoring of post-wildfire debris flows following the 2019 Museum Fire, Arizona

Abstract

The 2019 Museum Fire burned ~8 km2 of ponderosa pine and mixed-conifer forests in mountainous terrain ~2 km north of Flagstaff, Arizona, USA (Figure 1). The fire ignited on Sunday July 21, 2019 and became the highest priority fire in the nation due to the steep terrain and proximity to Flagstaff, northern Arizona's population center. The region has been in the Early 21st century drought since the mid-1990's (Hereford, 2007). This fire represents a common wildfire event that is becoming more likely in the western US due to climate change, a longer fire season and larger, more severe fires (Westerling, 2016; Singleton et al., 2019; Mueller et al., 2020), and increased forest density linked to the history of fire suppression (North et al., 2015; Parks et al., 2015; O'Donnell et al., 2018). While the immediate threats posed by wildfire are substantial, another concern is often the post-wildfire debris flows caused by the removal of vegetation and ground cover, and creation of water repellent soil conditions following fire (e.g., Neary et al., 2012).

Citation

Porter, Ryan; Joyal, Taylor; Beers, Rebecca; Loverich, Joseph; LaPlante, Aubrey; Spruell, John; Youberg, Ann; Schenk, Edward; Robichaud, Peter R.; Springer, Abraham E. 2021. Seismic monitoring of post-wildfire debris flows following the 2019 Museum Fire, Arizona. Frontiers in Earth Science. 9: 461. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.649938.