WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 071008

The latest fire stats for California:

Overall Fire Containment:
There are 1005 State Responsibility Areas Fires, 815 are contained.
81% of fires in State Responsibility Area are contained.

There are 776 Federal Responsibility Area Fires, 644 are contained.
83% of fires Federal Responsibility Area are contained.

Total State and Federal California Fires: 1,781
Total Contained: 1,458
81% of Fires in California Contained
Total Active Fires: 323

Per the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), 40 states have provided assets or personnel to assist California with fire fighting operations since the fires began on June 21, 2008.

There are currently 24 complexes that are actively threatening life and property.

There are a total of 702,394 acres burned, 19,706 personnel assigned, 107 total rotary aircraft, and 0 fixed wing aircraft. Other resources include: 166 Strike Teams/Task Forces, 1,589 engines, 258 dozers, 414 hand crews, 406 water tenders and 4,008 overhead. 243 firefighter injuries reported.

Property threatened or destroyed includes: 13,067 residences threatened, 6 residences damaged, and 99 residences destroyed. There are 158 commercial properties threatened, 0 (zero) commercial properties damaged, and 1 (one) commercial property destroyed. 2,626 outbuildings threatened, 2 (two) outbuilding damaged, and 90 outbuildings destroyed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In today's news, an article about the cause of some of the San Diego wildfires of 2007, along with a couple of others which show that firefighters are multi-lingual, speaking their own language as well as English, but may also have to learn Australian/New Zealand slang (G'day, barbie, kiwi, etc). Another useful article on firescaping was put out on CNN (let's hope homeowners in the WUI pay attention). Meanwhile, Florida and New York National Guard units are providing aircraft and crews to help fight fires in California and a large convoy of military equipment (Team Dozer) rolled through Santa Ynez bringing much needed help to the fireline. The US House of Representatives approved additional funding for wildfire suppression with passage of the FLAME bill and also called on USDA to formulate fire plans. For those of you into Zen, an interesting story about firefighting monks and the bitter fight to save Paradise while the temperatures make that a more difficult job by far. With fires starting to spread in Washington state and elsewhere, it looks like our friends in the air-tanker business are moving into what fighter pilots call a 'target-rich environment', if only the smoke and air turbulence quit playing hob with air-tanker operations. And hats off to the smoke jumpers and air tankers for breaking records on both fronts, and to the ground crews who load 'em and keep 'em flying! A couple of uplifting stories about inmate firefighters lending a hand on the fireline.

And finally, a cautionary tale for firefighters from Sweden - keep an eye on your turnout gear if you take a dip in the local pool!


Cal Fire: Power lines caused October firestorm

10,000 flee fires

Wildfire strategy: fighting fire with fire

Firefighting dozers roll through Santa Ynez Valley on their way to Gap Fire

New records for smokejumpers, air tankers

House approves boost in federal firefighting funds

NY National Guard To Help Fight Forest Fires

NZ firefighters off to US

Firefighting Lingo

Flames force Calif. residents to flee — again

Wildfires spreading in Eastern Washington

Landscaping that can stop wildfires

Battling California fires, inmates find a chance at better role

Female inmates doing time on Calif. fire lines

Tassajara monks practice Zen of firefighting

Weather not helping Calif. firefighters

Firefighters dig in to take stand against Sierra Nevada fire

Firefighters Race Through Town in Underwear After Thieves Steal Uniforms at Pool