Project Abstract
The primary goal of this project is to make recommendations, taking Santa Ana winds into account, for fire policy and management in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SAMO). As the population within the wildland-urban interface (WUI) has grown, the severity and cost of fires have increased exponentially. In southern California, approximately 5 million homes are currently at risk from wildfires in the WUI. Santa Ana winds cause the most devastating fires, and so the areas of highest wind intensity are of particular interest to fire management planning and education programs. A better understanding of the spatial pattern of fire during Santa Ana winds could help managers make more accurate characterizations of fire spread. This in turn would make it easier to define defensible and indefensible locations within SAMO and assist with siting of fuel management zones. It could also help to focus education strategies, encourage hazard mitigation measures in the highest hazard locations, and identify areas where future construction should be avoided. An analysis of climate change impacts on fire hazard will be particularly important to planning in the vicinity of SAMO, as the population is projected to increase in the future.