Single Incident Information

After a fire, loss of vegetation exposes soil to erosion; water run-off may increase and cause flooding, soil, and rock may move downstream and damage property or fill reservoirs, putting community water supplies and endangered species at risk. The priority is emergency stabilization to prevent further damage to life, property, or natural resources on Forest Service lands. The stabilization work begins before the fire is out and may continue for up to a year. The longer-term rehabilitation effort to repair damage caused by the fire starts after the fire is out and continues for several years. Rehabilitation focuses on the lands unlikely to recover naturally from wildland fire damage.

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program is designed to address these emergencies through its key goals of protecting life, property, and critical natural and cultural resources. The BAER assessment team conducts field surveys and uses science-based models to rapidly evaluate and assess the burned area to prescribe and implement emergency treatments on Federal Lands to minimize threats to life and property resulting from the effects of a fire. The program stabilizes and prevents unacceptable degradation of natural and cultural resources if needed.

At the Kootenai River Complex, an initial BAER assessment has been completed by a team consisting of soil scientists, a hydrologist, an engineer, a fisheries biologist, and a botanist.  An emergency determination has been established in this assessment which justifies a series of treatments, including road closures, hazard signage, invasive species early detection rapid response (EDRR) treatments, storm proofing, and the construction of critical dips at high-risk stream crossings on Trout and Ball Creek roads (FSR 634 and FSR 432 respectively). The Kootenai River was the only fire where the team thought a full BAER assessment was warranted.  The burn severity in the other fires, the fire behavior patterns, placement in the watershed, etc., did not result in post-fire conditions where we would expect high risk to critical values.