Laserfiche WebLink
<br />ROLE OF Till!': FIRE <br /> <br />In May of 1996, an intense forest fIre burned approximately 12,000 acres in the rugged foothills of <br />Pike National Forest in southern Jefferson County. The f~re was known as the Buffalo Creek Fire. <br />The communities at risk during the fire included Buffalo Creek, Dome Rock, Foxton, Ferndale, and <br />South Platte. Several homes were destroyed or damaged by the fIre. In addition, vegetative and <br />soil conditions in the burned areas were changed (d.ramatically in some areas) from their "normal" <br />conditions. <br /> <br />The thunderstorm that occurred on July 12, 1996 produced rainfall that fell on both burned and <br />unburned areas in the forest. The big questions on everybody's mind are "can m~or flooding <br />happen again in the near future?" and "what effect did the fIre have on the flood?" The answer to <br />the fIrst question is a resounding YES. The quantitative arlswer to the second question is still under <br />investigation. Experts agree that the burned areas from the forest fIre increased the flood flows and <br />the amount of sediment and debris that came down from the watershed. However, it is impossible <br />right now to say exactly what impacts the burned areas had on the hydrologic response of the <br />watershed. Previous research on burned watersheds in other parts of the country suggests that flood <br />flows can be moderately to signifIcantly increased following a fire, depending on several factors. <br />Both short-term and long-term study efforts are underway specifIcally for the Buffalo Creek <br />watershed that will help to quantitatively describe those effects. <br /> <br />9 <br />