Approximate Location
Incident Overview
A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team has been ordered and tasked by Forest Supervisor, Betty Mathews, to assess the damages and potential threats to Prescott National Forest lands caused by the Gladiator Fire.
BAER teams are staffed by specially trained professionals: hydrologists, geologist, soil scientists, engineers, biologists, silviculturists, range conservationists, archeologists, and others who evaluate the burned area and prescribe treatments to protect life and property as quickly as possible. BAER team assessments usually begin before the wildfire has been fully contained.
Burned Area Emergency Response "What is BAER "
While most wildfires cause minimal damage to the land and pose few threats to the land or people downstream, some fires cause damage that requires special efforts to prevent problems. Loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion; water runoff may increase and cause flooding; sediments may move downstream and damage houses or fill reservoirs, threaten cultural resources, or put community water supplies or endangered species at risk.
Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) is an emergency response, not a long-term rehabilitation program. Primary objectives are to identify significant post-fire threats. If necessary and feasible, actions are undertaken to manage unacceptable risks. Actions taken must be proven to be effective and must be implementable before a significant damaging weather event.
BAER Objectives:
1. Determine if emergency or human health, and safety conditions exist.
2. Protect life, property, and critical cultural and natural resources from the effects of the Gladiator Fire.
3. Minimize emergency conditions to help stabilize soil; control water, sediment and debris movement; prevent impairment of ecosystems; and mitigate significant threats to health, safety, life, property and downstream values at risk.
BAER Tasks:
1. BAER assessment of damage: This starts before the fire is 100% contained. This includes the evaluation of the fire effects to soil, vegetation, wildlife, roads, and facilities. This results in the development of the Emergency Stabilization Plan.
2. BAER implementation: This is the emergency stabilization of soils and re-establishment of plant cover by the end of the first year after fire is contained. The approved plan is implemented as soon as possible by seeding, mulching, road work, debris removal from drainages, culvert cleaning and the possible removal of culverts too small to accommodate increased runoff. There may be a continued removal of hazard trees in and around structures, roads, power lines.
Basic Information
| Incident Type | Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation |
|---|---|
| Cause | Human Caused: Originated From A Structure Fire On Private Property |
| Date of Origin | Sunday May 13th, 2012 approx. 11:00 AM |
| Incident Commander | Team Leader: Dave Moore |
Current Situation
| Size | 16,240 acres |
|---|---|
| Significant Events | A Burned Area Emergency Response Team has been ordered and tasked to assess damages and threats to Prescott National Forest Lands burned by the Gladiator Fire. |
Outlook
| Planned Actions | Aerial reconnaisance and field surveys to validate satellite-based imagery of initial burn severity (i.e. damage to vegetation and soils). |
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