Firebomber Publications Blog

Wildfire News Of The Day (the Firebomber Publications blog) provides comprehensive international wildfire news. Subscribers include over 10,000 personnel from fire agencies, contractors, and government entities on five continents. "BEST NEWSLETTER I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY 32 YEARS IN THE FIRE SERVICE" - San Diego Fire Department Chief Brian Fennessy.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 043009

A California man accused of starting the Sierra Fire which burned 4,270 acres, 132 structures, and cost $12 million in fire suppression, lost his home to a wildfire in the 1980's, in our first wildfire story of the day; followed by a pair out of Colorado: the first pinpoints the cause of escalating firefighting costs in the US as being due to unbridled housing construction in the WUI; the second chronicles the outbreak of yet another wildfire on the military base at Fort Carson. Firefighters in the Davis Mountains region of Texas are battling wildfires with a little help from their neighbors in Louisiana; and, to the relief of many in the firefighting community, Montana-based Neptune Aviation's remaining nine P-2V aircraft will not be grounded by either Neptune or the NTSB following the crash of one of their aircraft on its way to a New Mexico wildfire. Firefighters from all over North and South Dakota will be participating in a weekend exercise that involves building line, air assets, and other aspects of wildland firefighting; while 900 acres of Pennsylvania's Tioga State Forest have been burned by a couple of wildfires. Rain has once again come to the aid of firefighters, this time in Kentucky; and wildfires in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains are finally abating. Commentary on the benefit (but short-lived effect) of rains on the wildfires in West Virginia is provided by the next article. The wildfire burning on the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina turned out to be smaller than first reported; while the virtue of prescribed burns is discussed in an article from South Carolina, which has just suffered through the worst wildfire in its history. The efficacy of air power in fighting wildfires is extolled in the next item from Florida. Forestry officials are feeling the heat as people dispute their statements about wildfires in India. Wind-driven wildfires in northern China forced the government to airlift 1,000 firefighters (forest policemen, as they're called there) into one area and to employ a dozen aircraft to help protect valuable stands of timber as well as villages, where an estimated 20,000 have been evacuated. Satellite data exposes a worrisome trend of increasing wildfires in Equatorial Asia, where clearing of land using fire has denuded areas that were once tropical forests and bogs; a process which may already be underway in Nepal, where, worried that a trend towards larger wildfires could turn their country into a desert within two years, government officials are faced with an out-of-control wildfire that has already burned over 100,000 acres. Australians will soon have a nationwide alert system in place, now that all state governments have agreed to the plan; and the Income Recovery Subsidy has been extended for an additional 13 weeks to help Victoria's businesses and farms. The South Australian Premier wants the federal government to adopt SA's policy on tracking arsonists. A new study shows that chemicals that can damage DNA are released from certain stands of timber during wildfires. And finally, having fought lots of wildfires in their state, firefighters in Kentucky had to fight one in their own station!

Summit Fire igniter was wildfire victim

To fight fire, fight forest development

Army, civilian crews fight wildfire on Fort Carson

Fresh crew of La. firefighters to help in Texas

Neptune initiates ‘stand-down' this week

South Dakota Wildland Fire Exercise May 2-3

Tioga State Forest fires contained

Forest Fires Are Out

Firefighters continue battling Smokies blazes

April showers bring renewed hope to those battling forest fires

Cherokee fire less extensive than thought

Experts fight fire with fire

Fighting fire by air: Pilots a huge help in battle of wildfires

Forest fire chokes admn's claim

China steps up efforts to contain raging forest fire

NASA study says climate adds fuel to Asian wildfire emissions

Ravaging forest fire out of control in Nepal

COAG agrees on national alert system for major emergencies

Govt extends bushfire assistance

Mike Rann wants nation to follow SA bushfire prevention scheme

Gene-altering compounds released from forest fires

Firefighters Battle Fire At Fire Station

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