During a local community meeting held this weekend for residents affected by the Station Fire, Los Angeles County and Glendale city officials released photos of wildfire damage in park areas now closed to the public along with details of flood control work being done in the aftermath.

A park official brought up an interesting distinction between affected areas: In moderately burned areas, there are still scorched remains of trees and bushes; but in the most severely burned areas, little more than ash remains.

Images:

1-3: Before and after photos taken from Deukmejian Wilderness Park, which extends into the southern boundary of Angeles National Forest. The lone surviving oak tree, which I was told was well over a century old, was spared by firefighters who had countered the Station Fire with a controlled back burn.

4: Tony Piwowar, who resides in the famous "E.T. house" in neighboring Tujunga, described the scorched hillscape as looking like "the surface of the moon." He wasn't kidding.

5: I recall these remnants of children's swings didn't see much use before the fire, but now they are all that remain here.

6: This historic barn, which was part of the Mesnager winery operation, had itself been through another major fire in 1933, and was spared from the 2009 Station Fire when firefighters started a back burn right in front of it.

7: Hiking trails have been lost as unstable hillsides have given way to rockslides without vegetation to hold them together.

8: One of many checkdams that have survived the fire are now a critical line of defense for residents below as winter rains threaten to trigger massive floods and landslides in the bare foothills.

9: Los Angeles County workers dig out protective debris basins in anticipation of mudslides.

10: The City of Glendale stockpiles barriers in anticipation of winter flooding and mudslides.

For more information:

Los Angeles County Department of Public Works

City of Glendale, California

Angeles National Forest

Note: Photos courtesy the City of Glendale, special thanks to David Ahern.