Fire in the Bernard Field Station

Just after lunch Sunday a fire erupted in the far southeast corner of the Field Station, adjacent to the corner of Foothill and Mills. By 1:30 p.m. the Fire Department appeared to have extinguished it. The Claremont Police Department closed Mills Avenue at Foothill for a time.

The fire appeared to burn only a small fraction of an acre, probably only a few hundred square yards.

Earlier Sunday morning there were a crew of people cutting down weeds on the east side of the Field Station. It is our strong suspicion--with no confirmation from the Fire Department--that this fire was not unrelated to that activity. There were several vehicles parked along the fence on dry grass and weeds--we hope it wasn't some of the BFF* of the Bernard Field Station-- and it is known that catalytic converters can get hot enough to ignite dry brush.

We are not even sure that's the most likely cause; here's another possibility. The crew were using one of those super-sized rotary lawnmowers you see advertised on late-night TV, the kind that eats entire woodlots. Maybe it was just a regular rotary lawnmower. It is entirely possible that the steel blade from that machine hit a rock and threw a spark into the just-pulverized grass which then become the moral equivalent of tinder. This is the kind of fire that can smolder unnoticed until bursting into rather uncontrollable flame.

It will be interesting to find out who was doing the brush clearance, and what safety measures, if any, they were observing. We can hear it now: "Nothing could possibly go wrong... go wrong... go wrong... go wrong..."

It wouldn't surprise us if Community Services Director Scott Carroll, or Bulldozer-in-Chief Larry Wheaton had some hand in this, but perhaps we are being unfair to suggest it.

Then again, this was just before Commencement at Harvey Mudd. Everyone knows Harvey Mudd has no love for the Bernard Field Station and in fact plans to pave some land adjacent to it for--you won't be surprised--a parking lot. Here's the speculation: Harvey Mudd President Maria Klawe runs over in her academic robes, sets fire to the Field Station, all while everyone is distracted with Commencement. This somehow makes the building of the parking lot easier. This scenario is a bit of a stretch, being arson and all, but some of the images are entertaining.

* * * * *
*Best Friends Forever. Get with it.

Field Station Information

Today's Daily Bulletin carried an opinion piece about the importance of the Bernard Field Station by Susan Shenk, who teaches at the Claremont Colleges. The piece is in response to a 6/7/2007 letter critical of the Field Station.

Shenk is a member of the Friends of the Bernard Biological Field Station (FBBFS). You can find information about them on their website.

Field Notes

The Robert J. Bernard Field Station (BFS) hasn't received much attention of late. The land is located on Foothill Blvd. in Claremont just between Mills Ave. on the east and the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens on the west.

The BFS website gives the following description of the Field Station:

The Robert J. Bernard Biological Field Station, an academic resource of Claremont University Consortium provided to The Claremont Colleges, is located within the Claremont Colleges Campus in Claremont, CA. It consists of 86 acres of primarily coastal sage scrub, Riversidian alluvial fan scrub, live oak forest, and grassland. In addition, an artificial lake with surrounding riparian woodland and several created vernal pools add to habitat diversity.

MISSION

To provide facilities and ecological communities for high-quality teaching and research experiences in the biological, environmental, and other sciences, to the students, faculty, and staff of the Claremont Colleges.

The Claremont University Consortium (CUC) owns the land and had planned on locating the Keck Graduate Institute there back in 1997. The Keck plan was submitted to the City of Claremont as part of CUC's North Campus Master Plan. The city approved an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the plan, and the plan was challenged in court by the Friends of the Bernard Biological Field Station (FBBFS).

A group called the Coalition to Preserve Claremont's Character also circulated a ballot referendum petition gathered enough signatures to put the Field Station issue to a public vote.

FBBFS and the CUC reached an out of court settlement in which the CUC agreed to preserve 45 acres of the area for 50 years. However, a little over 11 acres on the western edge of the Field Station can still be developed.

The issue has been quiet for a number of years now, but today's Daily Bulletin featured a letter from a Phyllis Chamberlain who doesn't like the current BFS use at all. Chamberlain's letter could indicate the issue isn't so dead as it has seemed.