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BURNED AREA EMERGENCY RESPONSE (BAER) Update

Borel Post-Fire BAER Soil Burn Severity Map Released

August 18, 2024

Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) specialists recently completed their data gathering and analysis for the Borel Fire burned area to produce a soil burned severity (SBS) map. This map and data display categories of unburned/low, moderate, and high. Approximately 54% of the total 59,288 acres analyzed by the BAER team are either unburned and/or low soil burn severity, while 37% sustained a moderate soil burn severity, and about 9% identified as high soil burn severity. Note: InciWeb Borel Fire information currently shows that the fire is 92% contained at 59,288 acres.  The current fire perimeter is 9 acres less than the team’s burned area analysis due to different aerial vegetation reflectance mapping techniques used by the BAER team.

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 areas The SBS is broken into four different classes: unburned (green), low severity (blue), moderate severity (yellow), and high severity (red). For more information on what these different SBS classifications mean, see BAER Information Brief at: Casqf Borel Postfire Baer - | InciWeb (wildfire.gov).

The BAER team relied on their refined soil burn severity map to produce data which they are using in their subsequent modeling and determination of post fire runoff and sedimentation. The BAER teams and the US Geological Survey (USGS) both utilized the soil burn severity map as an analysis tool to estimate post-fire flows and debris flow probability. In specific areas that experienced moderate to high burn severity, there could be increased runoff from steep hillslopes and resultant increases in post-fire soil erosion and potential debris flows.

The Borel soil burn severity (SBS) map can be downloaded at the Borel Post-Fire BAER InciWeb site: Casqf Borel Postfire Baer Information | InciWeb (wildfire.gov) as a JPEG or PDF version 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. Current weather and emergency notifications can be found at the National Weather Service website: www.weather.gov/hnx/.

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