WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 032409

Wildfire news today leads off with a story about Carbon Canyon, California, which burned in 2008 and is preparing for a new wildfire season; and to help fight future fires, the 747 Supertanker is ready to once again take to the skies. The Environmental Protection Agency has waded into the debate on climate change with warnings about physiological effects of increased atmospheric CO2 levels. Colorado residents are being warned of a very bad wildfire season ahead for that state; while a pair of blazes in Texas, one of which threatened over 100 homes at one point, have been controlled. Residents of Pennsylvania received warnings of red flag conditions in parts of that state; and two stories come to us out of Kentucky: a dragnet has been cast to find the people who may have set wildfires deliberately; at a time when almost two dozen wildfires are burning in that state. A variety of ills were corrected with a prescribed burn of sparrow habitat in Ohio; but arson investigators consider that a wildfire in a state forest there was deliberately set. Wildfire weather continues to dog parts of New Jersey; and Long Island, New York, is on wildfire alert as well. A mountainside blaze in Tennessee destroyed some cabins in its path; and a couple of wildfires that were keeping Louisiana firefighters busy have finally been contained. A daycare center threatened by a Florida wildfire was safely evacuated; but, hereagain, arson is suspected in one of the wildfires that just tore through that state. Two stories out of Kenya in Africa demonstrate the level of response to and the perceived cause of wildfires there, where arsonists were also busy setting fires. Wildfires were probably set by people illegally harvesting trees in a rugged portion of Pakistan, too. A road in Victoria state, Australia, that was long considered a deathtrap was where a number of people were trapped 'like rats in a tube' during Black Saturday. National discussion on a Black Saturday bushfire memorial containing the remains of those who could not be identified is beginning in Australia. Better communications and warning systems were once again the topic of discussion at the bushfire hearings; while temperatures in the Indian Ocean are being blamed for the worsening bushfires in Australia. The state of mind of an arsonist in South Australia was debated in a courtroom; but a Victorian shire has made a contribution to aid bushfire survivors. Despite all the destruction wrought by bushfires, an endangered species of snake could actually benefit from bushfires in its habitat. And finally, the bonds of firefighter brotherhood are strong, as shown by our last article of the day.

Wildfire protection ramped up in Carbon Canyon

Evergreen Supertanker Ready To Fight Wildfires

EPA: Global Warming Endangers Health

Wildfire season is upon us

Blazes contained

Wildfire threat 'very high'

Search For Suspects Attempting To Start Forest Fires

Forest Fires Spread

U.S. Forest Service Controlled Fire Enhances Bird Habitat

Officials: State Forest Fire Was Arson

Dry weather raises threat of wildfires in Lehigh Valley, Northwest New Jersey

Fire alert in effect for Long Island

Bluff Mountain wildfire grows to 200 acres; 3 cabins burned

Forest Fires In LaSalle/Catahoula Contained

Daycare Evacuated Due To Nearby Wildfire

Forestry Official Calls Hernando County Wildfire Suspicious

Kenyan forces deployed for fires

Arsonists blamed for forest fires

Bushfire erupts at Margalla Hills

Bushfire warning on road 'ignored'

Authorities consider permanent bushfire memorial

Kinglake West residents say there was no warning of bushfires

Bushfires 'linked' to ocean temperatures

Helen White lit 21 bushfires in Adelaide Hills but is not a danger, her lawyer says

Shire assisting bushfire victims

Bush Fires May Actually Help Near-Extinct Australian Snake

Report of firefighters stuck in Platte River's sand brings fear, adrenaline, then relief