From the Source:
"Although dousing the flames was foremost in people's minds during the recent Rim Fire in Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park, U.S. Geological Survey scientific work continues well after the fire is out. USGS scientists are continuing their critical research characterizing the hidden dangers faced after large wildfires.
While the fire was still smoldering in September, the multi-agency BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response) team developed a burn-severity map and shared it with USGS scientists. USGS assessed the potential for debris flows that tend to occur when the winter rains soak the steep slopes following fires by adding critical information on soil characteristics, the ruggedness of the terrain, and the typical amount of rainfall in that area in order to model the likelihood and possible volumes of debris flows. The just published Rim Fire debris-flow hazards assessment map, will help land and emergency managers focus mitigation treatments on where the greatest damage might be done by post-fire debris flows."
Above: "A recent image from the Landsat 8 satellite in the vicinity of Yosemite National Park, California, during the Rim Fire (August 31). Started on August 17, the Rim Fire had burned over 219,000 acres by August 31 (an area nearly 15 times the size of Manhattan Island). Image is false-colored using bands 6, 5, 4 to allow identification of critical vegetation and fuels information that will help firefighters and emergency managers. In the image fire appears bright red, vegetation is green, smoke is blue, clouds are white, and bare ground is tan-colored."