WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 111109

In our first wildfire article today, Southern California's Orange County Register newspaper provides a useful utility for looking at wildfires in that county over the past 50 years; even as fire resistant materials go high-tech in that county: a company in Placentia is offering wood for new home construction that can hold off flames better than standard wood products. Kern County fire agencies, working in conjunction with a local Fire Safe Council, are conducting a number of controlled burns in that region; but recreational activities have been labeled as the cause of a $12 million fire in Central California's Stanislaus National Forest. One Colorado county is considering the extensive logging of an area that could burn in future wildfires; while suspicious wildfires in eastern Kentucky have drawn the attention of arson inspectors there. Fire agencies in Missouri reported a wildfire burning in a forested area at Juden Creek; while residents of Pennsylvania are being advised to bag their leaves instead of burning them due to the danger of wildfires. Arson inspectors in Maine are investigating a pair of grass fires that are suspicious in origin. Scientific American looks at how some of the lessons learned in Australia, the Earth's driest inhabited continent, could provide hope for other parched areas of the world. A bushfire burning in Portsea, Victoria, has drawn the attention of a third water-bombing aircraft; even as $11 million in additional funds are being made available to Victorians who suffered losses in the Black Saturday bushfires. With an influx of city-dwellers into rural parts of Victoria, fire education of the newcomers is considered a good first step to help reduce the bushfire danger they face in their new neighborhoods; hopefully helping them to avoid the psychological and physical impact that the Black Saturday bushfires had on some of those who lived through them. A bushfire in northern Queensland has been brought under control, but not before burning many acres of pastureland and bush; while a follow-on article to one from New South Wales yesterday about arson penalties reveals more details on the fines for lighting bushfires in that state. And finally, firefighters in Tyler, Texas, used to the customary call to get a cat out of a tree, this time received a call to get a 50-year-old woman out of a tree!

Major Orange County fires since 1958

Placentia Company's Wood Is Fire-Resistant

Series of Controlled Burns Throughout the County

Officials Determine Cause Of Knight Fire

Extensive logging proposed near Breckenridge

Pikeville Forest Fires Under Investigation

Fire burns area of woods at Juden Creek

Leaves — bag ’em, don’t burn ’em

Authorities suspicious of Down East fires

Baked Australia: Water Management Lessons for the World from Down Under

Third water-bomber called in to fight Portsea bushfire

New funds for families hit by Black Saturday

Cut the risk of bushfires

Living with the fear of fires yet to come

Bushfire brought under control near Camooweal

Harsh new penalties for lighting bushfires

Whitehouse Firefighters Rescue Woman From Tree