Report by the US Forest Service Report on its Handling of the Station Fire

Highlights of the US Forest Service Report on its Handling of the Station Fire

Full report here: Download Station-report-11-13-2009(2)

 

Summary: the fire spread out of control because it spread to terrain too steep for firefighters to safely confront the flames and not because of delays in ordering water-dropping aircraft and more crews.

 

… using aircraft to dump water or retardant without ground crews to help out would have been ineffective.

 

"Additional resources during the evening of Aug. 26 and morning of Aug. 27 would not have improved the effectiveness of operations during that operational period and would have resulted in needless exposure of firefighters to the hazards of wildland fire."

 

Highlights of the report

The origin of the Station Fire was in extremely rugged terrain with limited opportunities for safe suppression activities by ground-based suppression resources.

 

The ordering and assignment of firefighting resources to initial attack was appropriate and consistent with accepted fire management practices. Additional ground tactical resources would not have improved the effectiveness of operations because they could not be safely deployed. 

 

Incident management decisions made during the review period were consistent with generally accepted incident management practices. Decisions made by initial attack incident commanders reflected sound judgment of the operational situation and were prudent with respect to firefighter effectiveness, safety, and suppression resource deployment. 

 

In light of the extremely challenging topography encountered during initial attack and the highly volatile fire and vegetation conditions, incident commanders were reasonable and prudent in not exposing firefighters to actions that would have been ineffective and compromised their safety.  

 

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich disputed the findings, insisting the Forest Service miscalculated by not bringing in more aircraft in the early hours of the fire.

Had more aircraft been used, including at night, when the Forest Service is hesitant to fly, "the fire would not have spread," Antonovich said in a statement Friday.

 

Comments

[Alice]

Thanks Andrew for your comments

As I get more information I will share on this blog and the Altadena Blog.

Alice

[Andrew B]

I'm sorry, this report is nothing but self-protective BS.

At Mt. Wilson Observatory the fire was significantly slowed by lines of fire retardant placed days in advance. As the fire moved on the top of the mountain, you could see the pink lines in the forest where the retardant had been laid down.

"Air resources alone would been ineffective" - how can they possibly say that? You could say the same thing about the fire at Rancho Palos Verdes that occurred the same weekend. and yet that fire was attacked consistently from the air overnight...and the majority homes there were protected successfully.

[Alice]

Hi Barbara

I suspect that this fire will be argued for how it was handled for years.

So much of our emergency response system failed during this fire, including the LAFD, USFS and the county's response ie it's reverse 911.

But I hope we all develop good lessons learned for next time

Otherwise, it is all "sound and fury".

Alice

[Barbara]

Glad Antonovich disputes this, because the report sure sounds like self-protection.