WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 042409

Wildfire News Of The Day leads off with a report from Tony Morris of Wildfire Research Network on the first Aerial Firefighting Conference, which took place in Orange County, California, in February; followed by a 128-page report on the wildfires in that county late last year that has been made public. Placer County, California, is adding a new helicopter to its emergency response assets, one which can be used for fighting wildland fires; but Santa Maria Airport's board of directors has vowed to make a 'full court press' of US Forest Service to reestablish the airport as a full-service air-tanker base. A wildfire in Arizona that threatened homes drew a sharp response from air tankers and firefighters on the ground yesterday; and, in a news item submitted by Shawn Giorgianni of New Mexico State Forestry, a 5,000 acre wildfire is burning near Dunken. Lightning-sparked wildfires burned in several West Texas counties; and a New York Times article about the green aftermath of the devastating wildfires in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness follows. Fire agencies in Pennsylvania, like those in New York, are warning residents of ideal wildfire conditions this weekend; followed by three articles that summarize the massive wildfires burning in South Carolina, concluding with one in which, in the wake of South Carolina's worst wildfire in over 30 years, the governor still wants to cut $1 million from the wildfire budget! And stay away from this next guy - he attracts trouble, first in surviving the 'Miracle on the Hudson' air crash, now being within sight of the Myrtle Beach wildfires! An update on the Florida wildfire situation is provided by the next article. In a vicious cycle, wildfire smoke is apparently worsening climate change, which, in turn, worsens wildfires, according to a new study; and environmentalists are worried about the severity of wildfires on the Tibetan plateau being tied to climate change. A look at bushfires in Africa's Cameroon is provided by the next item. Concerned that refuges set aside for people in bushfire-prone areas in the wake of the 1983 bushfires might detract from the official policy of 'Stay or Go', politicians scrapped the idea, as the next article discusses. And finally, Laguna Woods, California, firefighters gave a cat back one of its nine lives.

First Aerial Firefighting Conference Addresses Funding and Management Needs

Report: Crews ignored orders during Freeway Complex fire

Multiuse copter is new tool for Sheriff's Department

Airport board votes to revive air-tanker ops

Fire was threat to homes southeast of Tucson

5,000-acre fire burns near Dunken

Lightning sparks fires

A Woodland Lesson in Fire’s Power to Destroy and Build

PA DCNR Warns of Spring Wildfire Danger as Conditions Worsen, Forest Visitation Climbs

Forestry chief: Debris burn started SC wildfire

SC wildfire hopscotches homes, turns northward

Sanford still wants to cut $1M wildfire spending

Norwalk survivor of "miracle on the Hudson" in SC wildfires

Wildfire in Charlotte breaks wet spell in forestry district

Fires make climate change worse - report

Vicious forest fires in Nepal raise climate change questions

Bush Fires: A Frequent Manmade Disaster in Cameroon

Bushfire refuges scrapped

Firefighters resuscitate cat