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Burned area emergency response


Burned area emergency response (BAER) is an emergency risk management reaction to post wildfire conditions that pose risks to human life and property or could further destabilize or degrade the burned lands. Even though wildfires are natural events, the presence of people and man-made structures in and adjacent to the burned area frequently requires continued emergency risk management actions. High severity wildfires pose a continuing flood, debris flow and mudflow risk to people living within and downstream from a burned watershed as well as a potential loss of desirable watershed values.

The burned area emergency response risk management process begins during or shortly after wildfire containment with risk assessments evaluating the effects of the wildfire against values needing protection. These risk assessments can range from simple to complex. An organized interdisciplinary team of subject matter experts (e.g., hydrologists, soil scientists, botanists, cultural resource specialists, engineers, etc.) used among other assessment tools hydrological modeling and soil burn severity mapping to assess potential flooding and vegetation recovery after the Cerro Grande Fire in 2000.

A BAER plan is developed based on the risk assessments and burned area land management objectives. The BAER Plan identifies the most effective treatments to address the identified risks. Plan implementation timeframes are dictated primarily by anticipated future events (e.g., next significant rainstorm) which also influence treatment options.

Burned area emergency response has mostly concentrated on risk reduction treatments with varying degrees of success. Risk avoidance, transfer and retention treatments are integral in the burned area emergency response risk management process.

Risk reduction treatments are designed to protect human life and safety and reduce flood severity, soil erosion and prevent the establishment of non-native plants. On 10 wildfires studied in Colorado, rainfall amount and intensity followed by bare mineral soil explained 63% of soil erosion variation. Research has shown that the risk of flooding, debris flows and mudflows are significantly increased with increasing rainfall intensities and burn severity and that some risk reduction treatments help for low but not high intensity rainfall events.


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