WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 071809

First up in wildfire news today, Lee Lachelt of the Alabama Forest Owners Association forwarded a radio program they did on prescribed burns that might be of interest to readers. A small wildfire broke out near Ramona in San Diego County just before noon today; and not only do Amtrak trains cause the occasional wildfire, but so do their busses! An S-61 heli-tanker crashed in Northern California while attempting to reload its water tank from a basin; while one of a pair of air-tankers employed by the Oregon Department of Forestry will be deployed to Medford. A 100-acre wildfire was burning along the Washington-Canadian border. Reno-Stead airbase is a busy place right now, with a dozen air tankers operating out of it and a smokejumper team awaiting deployment by air. Fire agencies are allowing several wildfires to burn through dense vegetation in Arizona, as the next article shows; followed by an update on wildfires in Colorado. A South Dakota firefighter and inventor arrived in Texas this week to demonstrate his new gel dispensing system from a truck. Firefighters in Mississippi had to battle a wildfire that was nearing a church. A wildfire has forced Canadian authorities to evacuate 3,000 homes in a British Columbia community; and the Canadian province of Ontario has seen double the usual number of forest fires this year due to more lightning activity. With over 100,000 acres burned so far this year, Yukon is issuing warnings to all campers visiting that Canadian province to mind their campfires. An after-action report on the wildfires that burned in Spain earlier this week is up next; but another wildfire in that country has forced 700 people to flee. With the prospect of an El Nino in the Pacific translating into worse wildfires for Indonesia, activists are clamoring for action. Another Australian paper published an Op-Ed bashing Victoria's Country Fire Authority; but a study from a Sydney university provides counterintuitive evidence that log houses can resist bushfires quite well. And finally, firefighters in Georgia not only had a housefire to extinguish before the fire spread to vegetation, but also had to contend with ammunition exploding and angry bees!

Prescribed Fire Associations

Brush Fire Burning Near Ramona

Amtrak bus fire ignites Southern California wildfire

Two pilots injured in firefighting helicopter crash

ODF stations airtanker in Medford

Wildfire burns in Pasayten wilderness

Fighting the Fire from the Air

Crews turn lightning-caused wildfires into controlled burns

Crews battling 2 Western Colorado wildfires

New gel firefighting system demonstrated

Wildfire Blazes Near Flowood Church

Kelowna-area forest fire grows to 50 hectares as 3,000 homes evacuated

Double number of forest fires so far

Campers reminded to douse their fires

One person killed in Spain wildfires

Forest fire leads to evacuation of 700 people

Activists warn of huge forest fires should El Niño occur

Utterly, tragically wrong

Fireproof logs can take heat in danger zone

UPDATED: Ammo, bees, lack of water hamper firefighters at Wedgewood Drive blaze