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SALT LAKE CITY — Wildfires are the darndest thing. That’s because they’re a natural disaster with the power to breed more destruction years after they strike.
That’s why state and federal officials do whatever they can to prepare people for the unimaginable — the effects after a wildfire.
“Wildfires are kind of a one-two punch. First, you survive the first itself and then you have to deal with the post-wildfire conditions, whether it’s water quality, erosion, whether it’s debris flow or flash flooding,” said Matt Buddie, flood insurance specialist for Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VIII. “It’s kind of a disaster that kind of produces these mini-disasters afterward.”
This aftereffect has already been seen in Utah this year. Officials have reported two separate debris flows from the Dollar Ridge Fire burn scar in Duchesne County, and another was reported at the Black Mountain Fire burn scar in Beaver County. Debris flows are caused when rainfall from a storm falls over a burn scar, causing a flash flood with ash and other debris.
The Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office reported at least 50 people were rescued from a debris flow on July 22. A debris flow from the Black Mountain Fire closed a stretch of state Route 130 in Beaver County back on July 12.
It’s areas below a burn scar that are most at-risk, Buddie said. He, along with Utah officials, help identify flood-risk areas in the state. They hire contractors, surveyors and engineers to help collect data and try to figure out where a flood may hit.
One of these is the U.S. Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response team, which heads to a burn scar once a fire is out and assesses the severity of the damage caused by a wildfire. In addition to creating the earliest information of the damage, the team of scientists and contractors also install water or land devices or remove hazards in an attempt to maintain land stability.
They create a Burn Severity Map, which looks at how hot the fire got and what did it due to the soil and vegetation. The maps show that now all areas within a fire perimeter are severely burnt, but some pockets are. Those are available to the public here once they are compiled.
These maps lead to models showing what a rain event could do over a certain burn scar area, Buddie explained.
If you can look up and see a burn scar, there’s a good chance that you’re at risk for flooding or debris flow.” — Matt Buddie, flood insurance specialist for Federal Emergency Management Agency Region VIII
However, mapping out flood-risk areas can get tricky. Officials can predict areas most likely to suffer from a flood, but debris flows and flood paths are unpredictable. In addition, Buddie said it typically takes 5 to 7 years after a wildfire for a burn scar to fully heal.
Utah may not seem like an area where homeowners would have to worry about flood insurance, but it’s something experts recommend for at least the period until a burn scar is healed.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has a flood risk map that shows where areas are most likely to flood. That, however, doesn’t always take into account burn scars.
“It’s really important for folks to talk to their local communities, their emergency managers and really get in tune with what that revised risk looks like,” Buddie said. “If you can look up and see a burn scar, there’s a good chance that you’re at risk for flooding or debris flow.”
Buddie said those within flood risk areas should keep tabs with local emergency services through signing up for reverse 911 or following on social media. Useful state tips can be found here.
