Can Southern California Wildland Conflagrations be Stopped?

Abstract

In southern California, many fires start and burn under conditions that permit their control with little burned acreage and fire damage. In contrast, under other conditions of weather and topography, on a small group of fires, control effort is relatively ineffective; they become large and destructive. A major reason for these "conflagration fires" is the extreme difficulty of stopping the head of a hot, fast-running fire in dry fuels and strong winds. No radically new concept of suppression can be anticipated. The best prospect for alleviation of the problem is modification of the vegetation to reduce fuel energy output. In a fuel-type mosaic containing large areas of light fuels, where conventional suppression will be effective, potential conflagrations could be brought under control while relatively small. Creation of the fuel-type mosaic will require coordinated area-by-area planning and a variety of techniques.

Citation

Countryman, Clive M. 1974. Can Southern California Wildland Conflagrations be Stopped?. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-7. Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Exp. Sin., Berkeley, Calif., 11p.