WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 022309

First up in wildfire news today, a summary of Heli-Expo is proved by the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association, followed by an article from a Nevada paper that examines the 'stay and defend' philosophy in the aftermath of the Australian bushfires. Indiana counties have an interlocking relationship between firefighters and timber sellers which appears to be financially beneficial to both parties, while an interesting article out of Alabama discusses fire ecology and pines. Fire agencies in South Carolina responded to a couple of wildfires over the weekend, and Florida is having its problems with wildfires at the moment as well. Motorists in Oklahoma were detoured around a stretch of interstate highway that was shut down by a wildfire, but a wildfire in Central Texas drew the ministrations of a heavy air-tanker brought into the area several days ago just in case. Overseas, firefighters in Singapore tackled a three-football-field sized vegetation fire, the 100th incident of its type this month, while over 4,000 firefighters have been mobilized in China to battle a blaze that crossed the border from Myanmar yesterday. The journal Nature Geoscience has documented the problem of human-caused wildfires in Indonesia (oftentimes caused due to illegal burning to aid land grabs) in a new report. Even islands in the Caribbean are not immune to wildfires, as the next article shows, and fire agencies are preparing a national park in Guatemala for the coming fire season. An employer is refusing to pay a volunteer firefighter for the time when they were out building containment lines that helped protect one of the homes run by the employer. Once again, Australians have been forced to evacuate as bushfires near Melbourne, but firefighters threw eight aircraft at a bushfire burning northwest of Melbourne, saving homes directly in the bushfire's path, and the weather was cooperating with the massive response. Technology is great when it works: NASA provided satellite images of the bushfires in southern Australia; but there was a serious communications breakdown during the bushfires as well. As bushfire donations continue to roll in, a quartet of stories demonstrates that some people have no respect for bushfire victims. An Australian researcher and former firefighter discusses the mosaic of forest land in the bushfire areas, and the Australian Government revealed more details about the post-bushfire rehabilitation efforts. And finally, make sure you keep those chimneys cleaned out, otherwise you may end up getting a wake-up call similar to this Pennsylvania firefighter!

Helicopter show defies economic indicators

Preparation improves survival in a wildfire

County benefits from state timber sales

ECOVIEWS: Flammable pine trees accustomed to forest fires

Firefighters Work To Contain Fire At State Park

Firefighters fight wildfire near Orlando

Wildfire Briefly Forces Closure Of I-35

Central Texas-Based Tanker Launched To Help Battle Wildfire

Big forest fire in Tampines

Myanmar forest fire crosses SW China border

Atmospheric scientists trace the human role in Indonesian forest fires

Dominican Republic braces for forest fire season

Wild fire prevention in Tikal National Park, Guatemala

Nursing home refuses to pay CFA volunteer during bushfires

Australians flee again as new wildfires flare up

Hundreds battle Vic blaze

Mild weather helps bushfire fight

NASA images reveal extent of Australian bushfire destruction

Paging failure hit firefighting efforts: SA Oppn

CFA disappointed about stolen bushfire funds

Bond over bogus bushfire collection

Two charged over bushfire charity thefts

Bushfire donation tins attract attention of thieves

We need to talk about the forests

Cost of bushfire clean-up to be met by governments

Firefighter Wakes Up To Find Chimney Ablaze