As we head into winter, the Madre and Gifford fire burn scars become a massive threat to those who live near these charred areas. The scars, reminders of the massive blazes that together destroyed more than 200-thousand acres and increased the risk of dangerous and even life-threatening flooding.
During the Gifford Fire, as flames burned close to their home in Huasna Valley, emergency workers told Robert French and his wife to evacuate their home. Although the couple and their home made it through unscathed, there is another potential disaster they must worry about… and that is the possibility they could lose it to a flood.
Flash flood to me is the side of this hill right here and the gopher holes, French said. It’s when we start getting 4 or 5 inches of rain in 3 or 4 days. Then, my front porch becomes a problem.
Scott Jalbert is the Office of Emergency Services director.
When the fire damaged the soils, they basically cooked them, and they become more viscous and they also repel water, Jalbert said. So normally when it rains, the soils absorb the water and it goes to the ground. In this case it runs off almost like asphalt.
Flash floods are always a major concern for emergency workers and fire managers due to burn scars left behind by massive wildfires. In this case, the Madre and Gifford fires are to blame. The Gifford Fire was the largest wildfire in the state this year. It alone burned more than 130,000 acres.
SLO County’s Office of Emergency Services is hosting an online forum on Monday for people who live in and around the burn scars. The goal is to make sure homeowners, renters, and business owners are prepared to handle whatever comes their way.
The meeting is there for their benefit, to educate them to the risks and the plan and more importantly, the communication plan, how we as emergency services are going to communicate with those residents to try our best to warn them and give them direction in what actions to take, Jalbert said.
Jalbert said they started planning for this meeting as the Gifford Fire was still burning. Even once the flames were extinguished, he knew residents were not in the clear yet.
“We wanted to get a good plan and plan a good communication plan in place, he said. We want to educate the folks of the risks, the hazards, and the appropriate actions, and understanding what our communication plan is.
This forum starts Monday at 6 pm over Zoom. An invite for the meeting will be posted on the Office of Emergency Services Facebook page.