WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 042509

In wildfire news today, the San Bernardino Press-Enterprise does an analysis of the report on last year's Freeway Complex Fire report; and the ongoing debate between US Forest Service and those in favor of continuing to use Santa Maria, California, as a full-service air-tanker base is chronicled in the next item. A $118,000 grant will keep the timber industry in one Oregon county going a little longer through thinning a firebreak; and aircraft remained grounded in Northern Arizona as firefighters grappled with a small wildfire there. With a wildfire near Dunken, New Mexico, up to 19,000 acres, it is still only 20% contained (late yesterday afternoon, Dan Ware, Public Relations Coordinator and Fire Information Officer for New Mexico State Forestry passed along the following to me: "The 4 Mile Fire near Dunken, NM is now 10,000 acres. Some structures are/were threatened. A type III incident management team has taken over the fire at this point"); and he also passed along a notice of condolence in regards to a P-2V air-tanker that crashed in the mountains in Utah today, apparently due to poor visibility (air-tanker pilots and crew are considered contractors and their families are, therefore, not allowed to claim the Department of Justice's $315,746 Public Safety Officer Benefit paid out to fallen city firefighters' families. Those wishing to contribute to the Associated Airtanker Pilots Association's Memorial Fund can find information at this link). Parts of New York State are on high fire alert through the middle of next week; and a wildfire caused by hot ammunition igniting debris on a firing range in Virginia spread to over 100 acres. Keeping an eye on their neighbor to the south, North Carolina is enforcing a burn ban; but with initial projections of over 20,000 acres burned and $15.4 million in property losses, the wildfire in South Carolina is about 85% contained, as recounted in the next two articles. With dozens of homes destroyed in the resultant wildfire, a South Carolina couple accused of starting it is feeling the heat; and the trials and tribulations of the South Carolina firefighters who got more than they bargained for is covered by the next article. Florida's Alligator Alley throughway remains closed as a 10,000 acre wildfire continues to burn in the Everglades; and a grass fire in Florida is under scrutiny by firefighters; but elsewhere in Florida, a 1,200 acre blaze is 80 percent contained near Orlando; while another continued to burn in Hernando Beach. Predicting cooler temperatures and higher precipitation this summer, Alaskan fire officials are forecasting a mild wildfire season. On the technology front, a new device allows firefighters to perform easier water rescues; and an ambitious plan in China aims to put over 4 million acres of forest under video surveillance within a year in the hopes of reducing damage from forest fires there. Just two days after 13 soldiers were killed fighting fires there, six more people have died fighting a forest fire in Nepal. A tally of the losses to forest fires in one Indian state is provided by the next article. Heading Down Under, high-level memos from the Victoria Police that were leaked show that the police cited the poor condition of their emergency response system last year, but were denied the means to correct problems prior to the Black Saturday bushfires. As plans for a Black Saturday bushfire memorial museum take shape, developers are taking a page from a museum that chronicles another Australian natural disaster: Cyclone Tracy. Australian fire agencies are looking to the US (and to the skies) for help: as the 747 Supertanker begins trials in the US this coming fire season, observers from Down Under will be watching proceedings intently; and, citing the success of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in mapping California's wildfires in the past, an academic in Australia is recommending that the Australian military have UAVs prepped and ready to go when bushfire conditions warrant it.

Human error, confusion, wind cited in report on Freeway Complex Fire

Forest Service Defends Paso Robles Air Attack Base

Long-awaited grant will result in forest thinning

Winds delay burnout attack of Bear fire

Wildfire chars 19,000 acres in southern NM

UPDATE: Neptune plane that crashed, killing Alberton man, was on way to fight fire

Steuben Co. Under Local State of Emergency for Wildfire Threat

105 Acres Burned at George Washington National Forest

Wildfires Bring Concern to State

Officials: Wildfire 85 percent contained

SC wildfire being reined in; winds still feared

SC woman says don't blame husband for wildfire

Myrtle Beach area's firefighters find epic battle

Wildfires may keep Alligator Alley shut down through weekend

Firefighters Monitoring 150-Acre Fire

East Orange County wildfire 80 percent contained

Firefighters grappling with Hernando Beach brush fire

Experts predict mild wildfire season

Device lets firefighters walk on water

Shanxi puts forest under video monitoring for fire prevention

Six more killed in Nepal forest fires

5,457 hectares lost in forest fire: Report

Bid to boost fire warning system ignored

Lessons to be learnt in the lingering echo of Tracy

SA watches trial of giant waterbomber

Drones needed to fight super firestorms: academic