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Eaton Post-Fire BAER Soil Burn Severity Map Released

January 22, 2025

USDA Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their data gathering and analysis for federal lands in the Eaton Fire burned area to produce a post-fire Soil Burn Severity (SBS) map.

The BAER assessment team used initial remote sensing imagery with their field-validated soils data to develop and produce a map showing soil burn severity levels for the burned area. The SBS is broken into four different classes: unburned/very low (green), low (blue), moderate (yellow), and high (red). For more information on these different SBS classifications, see the BAER Information Brief at: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-publication/caanf-eatonhurst-postfire-baer/baer-information-brief-understanding-soil-burn-severity-01-20-2025.

The BAER SBS map and data display categories of unburned/very low, low, moderate, and high soil burn severity in different colors for the different categories. Of the 14,231 acres within the Eaton Fire perimeter, 6,414 acres are non-Forest Service land, 7,817 acres are National Forest System (NFS) land, and 2,798 acres are unevaluated urban land.  Of the 11,433 acres analyzed by the Forest Service BAER team, approximately 22% of these acres are either unburned/very low or low soil burn severity, while 74% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and about 4% were identified as having high soil burn severity. 

You may see several types of fire severity and intensity maps. If they look different for the same fire, it is because they measure different metrics to describe the effects of the fire. Vegetation burn severity is different than soil burn severity. You can look at a burned area and intuitively know that the fire was severe when vegetation has burned off. Fire effects to the soil are not as obvious; but they are critical for predicting what could happen during storm events in the first couple years of storms. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) maps are primarily measures of fire effects on soils. See also Fire Intensity vs. Soil Severity Effects BAER Information Brief at: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-publication/caanf-eatonhurst-postfire-baer/baer-information-brief-fire-severity-and-fire-intensity-effects-01-20-2025.

Heat from fire changes soil chemistry which in turn affects what will happen during storm events after fires. The team hydrologists, soil scientists, and geologists use the final soil burn severity map to model and predict areas likely to experience flooding, erosion, sedimentation, and debris flows. The BAER team, the US Geological Survey (USGS), and the California State Watershed Emergency Response Team (WERT) all utilize the soil burn severity map as an analysis tool to estimate post-fire watershed response to precipitation events. In specific areas that are predicted to have high levels of post-fire response, the team and their partner agencies assess the need for and feasibility of various treatments.

The Eaton Fire SBS map can be downloaded at the Eaton Post-Fire BAER InciWeb site: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/caanf-eatonhurst-postfire-baer under the Maps” tab.

BAER SAFETY MESSAGE: Everyone near and downstream from the burned areas should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains and increased water runoff. Flash flooding may occur quickly during heavy rain events--be prepared to act and note emergency alerts issued by Los Angeles County. Current weather and emergency notifications can also be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/lox/.

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