Warm Up 1.What are some different ways that water can become polluted? 2.List 2 things that wildfires need in order to occur. Time’s Up!

Wildfires & Flash Flooding

Triangles Fuel – Heat – Oxygen Fire Behavior – Topography – Weather – Fuels

Fire Types Crown – Burn in tops of trees – Destroy forests Surface – Burn grasses, shrubs, lower limbs – Thins forest – Allows for new growth

Fire Suppression Firelines Backfires Water drop Fire retardants – Colored dye – Chemicals – Clay

Wildfire Advantages Recycle nutrients Maintain a healthy ecosystem Reduce impact of disease and insects, maintain open meadows, increase diversity in a forest Burned trees provide nesting sites and homes for small mammals Some plants require fire to reproduce (serotinous cones – require 114 degrees F to open)

Wildfire Disadvantages If a fire is too hot, the soil is literally sterilized, killing necessary bacteria Destruction of property Loss of life; human and animal Danger or erosion after removal of plant material or building of firelines Warming of streams due to heat of sustained fire and removal of cover of vegetation

Waldo Canyon Fire June/July 2012 Air Force Academy

High intensity crown fires create “moonscapes” Waldo Canyon Fire burn area

Waldo Canyon Fire burn area, one year later

Hydrophobic soils High intensity fires vaporize waxes from roots; the waxes condense in a layer below the surface, making the soil impermeable

Hydrophobic soils enhance flash flooding

Below Waldo Canyon Burn Scar August 9, 2013 Heavy rain In the flood Watching… Flash flooding damage in Manitou Springs

Runoff from a Burn Scar Activity Follow the directions on the worksheet. Record your data, do your calculations, and answer the questions on a piece of loose leaf paper titled “Runoff from a Burn Scar”