A storm is coming to SLO. What’s going to happen to the Lizzie Fire burn scar on the hill?
The burn scar from the Lizzie Fire painted the side of High School Hill above San Luis Obispo a blotchy black, contrasted with the surrounding red fire retardant, brown grass and splotches of green trees.
In preparation for the stormy days that lie ahead, the city has worked to ensure the hillside’s underlying areas are safe from dangerous landslides, debris flows and falling trees, according to Bob Hill, San Luis Obispo’s sustainability and natural resources officer.
The city worked with Cal Fire to deploy a Watershed Emergency Response Team to the area and examine how the wildfire — which burned 124 acres between Oct. 30 and Nov. 3 — damaged the landscape.
“We were comforted to know that their preliminary assessment shows a low threat,” Hill said.
High School Hill is composed of serpentine bedrock and very fine topsoil that is home mostly to grasses, he said. That’s part of what gives the area a smaller risk of landslides or large debris flows.
The emergency response team is expected to publish its final report on the condition of the Lizzie Fire burn scar in the coming weeks, which will be made available to the public, Hill added.
“But we’re not waiting for the report,” Hill said. “We’re taking action now.”
City clears debris, assesses damaged trees in burn scar
Last week, an eight-person team of city Park Rangers trekked the burn scar to remove large burned debris that could easily be swept into the creek below High School Hill, Hill said.
That creek serves as a tributary to San Luis Obispo Creek and runs through culverts extending under the city. By removing the debris from the burn scar, the city hopes to prevent flooding-caused debris from being picked up by a large rainstorm that could then clog culverts, Hill said.
The city also contracted a tree company to inspect the burned eucalyptus trees in the burn scar, Hill said. He expects a report from them in the coming days regarding how many trees may have to be removed to prevent damage to homes or the watershed, he added.
“A lot of those trees will survive,” particularly those in the High School Hill drainage area, Hill said.
In regards to the bright red fire retardant dropped around the fire, Hill said he doesn’t expect that to runoff into the creek watershed.
“The Phos-Chek was really effective and saved the day,” he said. “It prevented the fire from spreading and getting into the vegetation on the other side of the hill.”
Phos-Chek is a slurry of ammonium phosphate that prevents flames from spreading by depriving them of oxygen, according to the product’s maker, Perimeter Solutions.
While the hillside recovers from the Lizzie Fire, the firefighter trail up to the peak of High School Hill is closed. Hill said the city is waiting until after the upcoming storm to reassess the trail’s conditions.
