Malibu Fires Essay Research Paper Malibu FiresHuman

Malibu Fires Essay, Research Paper

Malibu Fires

Human beings are able to adapt to almost any environment, unfortunately

sometimes we take advantage of our natural surroundings. We find ourselves

amidst a struggle between our lifestyles and nature. Although we affect nature

profoundly with our activities, we in turn are shaped by nature’s potent forces.

Nature can be brutal to humans, but we must remember that it merely is following

its course. As a result, we must learn to coexist with it. Fire is a naturally

occurring phenomenon which humans have learned to deal with throughout history.

Yet when fire burns uncontrollably, there is great potential for monumental

damage to all surrounding biomass. The Malibu wildfires are an example of one

such instance.

Historically, wildfires had been left to burn uncontrolled for weeks.

Fires were caused by different sources such as lightning or human hunters who

wanted to chase animals out of the woods. As prolonged as these fires were,

they had limited catastrophic effects on the nomadic humans. This is due to the

low population density and the fact that the fires were not very intense. As

people began to change from a hunting-gathering society to agriculturists, they

settled in communities. Homes built among the wild brush were perfect prey to

wildfires. Initially, wildfires were put out immediately and people were barred

from setting fires in open spaces. Due to the policy of fire suppression, only

one percent of all wildfires escaped early control. The land was safe from

fires temporarily, but this set the stage for catastrophe as the brush grew more

dense.

There have been more than 20 catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles

County since the beginning of organized fire protection. The first “big one”

happened in December of 1927. The fire started in the La Crescenta Valley,

climbed over the Verdugo Mountain range and destroyed more than 100 homes.

In addition to the damage caused in 1927, fires have profoundly affected

the Southern California environment. Almost every square mile of chaparral land

in Los Angeles county has been burned at least once, since 1919. There are

basically two large fire breeding grounds in Los Angeles county: the San

Gabriel Mountain range and the Santa Monica Mountains. In 1993, the Kinneloa

Fire in Altadena caused a great amount of damage to the surrounding area and

destroyed 121 homes in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. It was the

most devastating fire in the area, surpassing the previous worst fire in 1980

that burned 55 homes at the mouth of the San Gabriel Canyon. The total damage

caused by wildfires in the San Gabriel Mountains within the past 60 years

amounted to the loss of 332 homes.

Statistically, Malibu and its surrounding area has seen much damage done

to its vegetation and inhabitants. There have been 24 wildfires that burned a

total of 271,047 acres since 1927. These fires have caused a total of five

deaths and the destruction of 1,502 homes along with 830 other structures.

Recent fires include the Malibu fire in 1985, Dayton Fire in 1982 and Malibu

Canyon fire in 1970. In the Malibu Fire, 103 homes were destroyed; in the

Dayton Fire, 85 homes were destroyed. The Malibu Canyon Fire, which joined

forces with the New Hall Fire on September 25, 1970, destroyed a total of 135

homes and burned through a total of 85,000 acres (Wildfire sec. 2 p.1). Out of

all the homes burned, 70 were located in Malibu and 65 in Chatsworth (Wildfire

sec. 2 p.1). Previous to that fire, the last time Topanga Canyon had seen a

damaging fire was December 30, 1956, when 74 homes were destroyed (Wildfire sec.

3 p.1). Another painful memory for Topanga Canyon occurred between 1938 and

1943, during which time three fires destroyed more than 600 structures.

1993 featured one of Malibu’s most devastating firestorms. When

traveling through Malibu’s scenic landscape, it is almost impossible to imagine

that this beautiful environment could foster such a deadly fire. Lovely ocean-

view homes are nestled within the lush vegetation of the mountainous landscape.

In fact, it was Malibu’s beauty that originally lured people to settle there.

Unfortunately, Malibu has the ultimate combination of climate condition, wind

pattern, and lust biomass for wildfires. During the 1993 fires, biomass growing

in the Malibu hills acted as fuel, as did the homes that stood nearby. Some long

time residents of Malibu have lost not one but two or even three homes.

Like deciduous forests that have adequate moisture levels and cool

climates, Malibu is very rich in vegetation. However, Malibu experiences a

natural phenomenon unknown to deciduous forests: during the fall and early

winter months, strong Santa Ana winds take regular trips through Malibu and out

to the ocean. As the Santa Ana winds blow through, evaporating

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