WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 103009

We lead off wildfire news today with a correction on one of yesterday's articles about a bomb scare at a fire station. Wildfire News Of The Day reader Kristina Hajjar, Director of Communications at LA County FD, pointed out that the incident took place at an LAFD station, not an LA County station as I had indicated (oops!) A sheriff's deputy is under investigation for setting two illegal campfires in Washington state. Residents of Florida are being reminded to watch their debris burning as that state enters its wildfire season; even as firefighters in North Fort Myers are setting prescribed burns. With 73% of British Columbia's firefighters coming from the volunteer ranks, a shortfall in new recruits has the Canadian province worried; but with the order of four CL-415 aircraft from Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario, Canada, aircraft manufacturer Bombardier should be able to keep its doors open at least until 2011 on this one order alone! Greek politicians are finally clamping down on construction projects in areas burned by wildfires, something which had resulted in many suspicious fires on prime forested real estate in the past. Due to wildfires that destroyed 40% of their timber plantations, a pulp mill in the southern Africa nation of Swaziland has been forced to close. Southeast Asian nations, like Singapore, are hopeful that they will have less smoke to contend with now that Indonesia has pledged to cut wildfires by 20% per year. Heading Down Under, a fire captain from Victoria counsels for reason versus hysteria when deciding whether to evacuate areas during high bushfire danger; while a reporter from Victoria who lost everything in the Black Saturday bushfires has won a prestigious journalism award for his first-person account of the tragedy. As demand for bushfire bunkers has skyrocketed in Victoria, the Royal Bushfire Commission is pressing for building standards to be implemented quickly; and a group is trying to raise more funds for bushfire recovery in Victoria. In a follow-up to one of yesterday's stories, Victoria's premier will not merge that state's two firefighting agencies into one; but a New South Wales fire official fears that a merger of their rural and metropolitan fire agencies could alienate many of their volunteer firefighters. And finally, one of the beneficial side effects of wildfires in Southern California appears to be larger deer!

King County deputy is cited for illegal fires

Wildfire Concerns

Prescribed burn began at 10 a.m. today in North Fort Myers

B.C. fire services struggle to attract volunteers

Good News at Bombardier

Draft law on Greece's fire-ravaged regions of east Attica unveiled

Sappi closes Usutu

Indonesia to cut forest fires by 20% yearly

Fire captain warns bushfire 'hysteria' may cost lives

Tale of courage amid fires takes top News Award

Bushfire bunker standards 'needed fast'

Bushfire group seeks recovery funds

Brumby won't merge firefighting services

Fire merger could alienate volunteers

Wildfires responsible for bigger deer?