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<br /> <br />5.7.3 Fire Hazard in the Bay Area <br /> <br />5.7.3.1 Wildfire <br />CalFIRE has developed maps depicting wildfire hazard areas. Figure is a map of fire hazard severity <br />in State Responsibility Areas. Fire hazard severity takes into account the amount of vegetation, the <br />topography, and weather (temperature, humidity, and wind), and represents the likelihood of an <br />area burning over a 30-50 year time period.36 In Figure 16, shadowed portions of the map depict <br />very high fire hazard severity in Local Responsibility Areas. Cal FIRE does not map other levels of <br />fire hazard severity in local responsibility areas. Local Fire Departments and protection districts <br />may have locally available hazard severity information for these areas. <br />CalFire also produced WUI maps that highlight areas with burnable vegetation and residential <br />density greater than one unit per 20 acres. These zones represent areas of potential fire and high <br />exposure of people and property. Some local fire departments and districts have chosen to identify <br />their own WUI zones based on their local knowledge of the landscape. The City of Santa Rosa is one <br />example of a city with a self-defined WUI Area.37 <br />5.7.3.2 Burn Areas <br />The impacts of a fire are felt long after the fire is extinguished. In addition to the loss of property in <br />fires, the loss in vegetation and changes in surface soils alters the environment. When all <br />supporting vegetation is burned away, hillsides become destabilized and prone to erosion. The <br />burnt surface soils are harder and absorb less water. When winter rains come, this leads to <br />increased runoff, erosion, and landslides in hilly areas. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />36 CDF Fire and Resource Assessment Program <br />37 http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/departments/fire/prevention/wildland_urban/Pages/default.aspx