Fires impact health and wildlife

by Kenneth Todd Ruiz
Managing Editor

While wet, cool weather has helped bring an end to the devastating fires that surrounded Los Angeles from the northwest to the southeast, concerns remain about the health impact on both human beings and the environment.

Arson is believed to be the cause of the fires, but ecological conditions of drought, sustained hot weather, and an insect infestation fueled the flames that blackened more than 750,000 acres.

Air quality officials from the South Coast Air Quality Management District warned Wednesday that dust particulate from the destroyed homes may contain asbestos, a toxic contaminant known to cause lung cancer and other lung diseases.

"Homes and buildings built before 1984 may contain asbestos materials," said Barry Wallerstein, AQMD spokesman. "Homeowners cleaning up debris from these homes should take steps to protect themselves, or hire a licensed contractor to handle the cleanup."

According to the AQMD, the rains of last weekend helped to reduce the level of particulate debris from the air.

Those same rains could prove problematic when the weather makes a full-fledged transition into winter.

As was demonstrated in last winter's muddy follow-up to the Williams Fire above La Verne, the absence of ground cover combined with heavy rain can produce a cascade of watery debris.

A report from the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority identified the Deer Creek flood catch basin, just above Rancho Cucamonga, as providing inadequate protection.

"It's an extreme concern of ours," said Assistant Director Vana Olson in the San Bernardino County Public Works Department.

County officials said they would seek federal money to clear out and expand the runoff catch basins, inform residents of the hazards and build sandbag barriers to minimize the threat.

Officials do not expect it to be a serious issue until January or February, as the soil can absorb some amount of rain before it reaches its saturation threshold.

To this end, they are providing sandbags to local residents, according to county spokeswoman Renee Groese.

The threat of debris flooding down will persist for up to four years, Olson said.

"This isn't going to be a one-season thing," she said.

While humans can take proactive steps to limit the harm done to them, the Southern California's diverse wildlife may have suffered crucial habitat loss.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, a number of rare or endangered species reside in areas affected by the fires.

"There are a lot of endemic species found there that are not found anywhere else in the world," said John Robinson, a program director for the U.S. Forest Service. "There's a whole bunch of sensitive and endangered plants down there as well."

Robinson said that work will begin tomorrow on canvassing the burnt areas to determine what can be done to help the habitats recuperate.

"We are probably looking at 91,000 acres of rehabilitation work," Robinson said.

Steve Loe, a U.S. Forest Service biologist, has estimated that one species alone, the California spotted owl, has lost 10 percent of its old growth habitat.

One species being blamed for exacerbating the fire is the bark beetle, which has destroyed more than one million trees in the San Bernardino mountains, leaving behind dry, highly flammable husks.

"It's been one of the worst die-offs of forest we've seen," Robinson said.

On March 3, 2003, Gov. Gray Davis proclaimed a state of emergency that suspended the notification requirements for residents to remove dead, dying or diseased trees from their property.

According to Paul Jarrell, biology professor at Pasadena City College, the beetles have always been around, and are normally not a major problem for the trees.

"A healthy tree can withstand an infection," he said. "However, the trees are currently very weak because of years of drought conditions."

Beetle eggs are laid by adult beetles in the tree bark, and the resulting larvae feed off on the trees in the area between the bark and the wood, Jarrell said.

"These weakened trees cannot defend against the beetle, and are basically strangulated."

The problem has resulted in a feedback-loop.

As more trees succumb to beetle infestation, the larger the bug population grows, making the infestation problem even worse.

The State estimated it would cost $450 million to remove the trees, and sought funds from the federal government in April to assist in tree removal, as well as a federal declaration of emergency.

Both requests were denied by the Bush administration in the late October, during the first days of the fires.