WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 012109

Today in wildfire news, the upgrades to CALFIRE's Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base are revisited, the Senate Public Lands and Forests Subcommittee is asking President Obama for nearly $2 billion to thin national forests over a two year period, and the Arizona Board Of Supervisors has asked USFS to aggressively thin thousands of acres of forests in that state. In Colorado, a wind-driven wildfire in a field was limited to ten acres, and a small wildfire in Oklahoma damaged a mobile home. Two stories about lookout towers are next up: the first from North Carolina, where a new book chronicles over 100 towers in that state; the second deals with an arsonist who set fire to one in Virginia. Moore Air Force Base in Texas experienced a suspicious fire that spread into grasslands as a wildfire, while Texas fire authorities were warning motorists about the hazards of driving through smoke. Another case of military exercises starting wildfires comes to us from Korea today, and, following a rash of lightning strikes, Australians are taking to the skies to discover if there are any hotspots left behind in the bush.

Hemet-Ryan: $21 million in gov. budget

Senators ask Obama for forest stimulus funding

Counties push for logging plan to restore

Strong Winds Fan Wildfires

Wildfire Burns Mobile Home Near Norman

Take a hike on fire towers

Ex-firefighter pleads guilty to lookout tower fire

Federal Agents Investigating Wildfire

Wildfire Awareness: Smoke on the Road? Don't Drive Into It!

Wildfire scorches more than 7 acres at Rodriguez Range

Aerial surveillance to check for undetected bushfires