WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 042210

First up in wildfire news today, a restoration bill for Lake Tahoe, California, intended to reduce the wildfire threat, will cost $415 million and take eight years to implement (1); while fire managers in Wyoming discussed the importance of early summer rains on the upcoming fire season in that state (2). Three young men in Minnesota may end up paying the suppression costs for a 100 acre fire that was started with fireworks (3); but environmentalists indicated that a crack in an old oil line fueled the wildfire near Deer River last week (4). A retrospective on wildfires in Wisconsin 30 years ago is provided by the next article (5); although firefighters in Eau Claire were more concerned with a current wildfire, not those of the past (6). Experts are still pondering the causes of a wildfire at Ohio's Shawnee Forest last year (7); and a National Guard base in Massachusetts will be solving several problems at once by conducting a controlled burn (8). A wildfire was reported at a cemetery in Upstate New York State yesterday (9). Several stories come to us from South Carolina today: an Op-Ed piece provides some useful tips to allow homeowners to prevent forest fires (10); US Forest Service describes the benefits wildfires convey to the ecosystem (11); a wildfire in Chester County disrupted traffic on Interstate 77 (12); and our last article in the set takes a closer look at MAFFS training at South Carolina's Technology and Aviation Center (13). Alaska Division of Forestry reported a campfire in Denali Borough caused a wildfire (14); and Canadians had to be evacuated yesterday in Strathcona County, Alberta, due to an oncoming wildfire (15). A helicopter was pressed into service to help battle a blaze in County Galway, Ireland, yesterday (16); and an intriguing study about the impact of smoke on weather patterns from Israel's Tel Aviv University Department of Geophysics and Planetary Science was published in the latest issue of Geophysical Research Letters (17). The northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh reported that thousands of acres of vegetation had been destroyed by wildfires, and the situation there remains dire (18); while a firefighter 'Meeting of the Minds' took place in the capital of the Himalayan nation of Bhutan (19). Heading Down Under, those who lost loved ones decried an e-mail from former Victoria Police Commissioner Christine Nixon about her absence during Black Saturday's worst period (20). A diverse collection of groups met in Victoria to discuss the thorny issue of powerline safety in bushfire zones (21); meanwhile, Country Fire Authority has stepped up controlled burns in the Grampians Mountains after heavy lobbying by residents (22). In a sign of progress, one community that was hard-hit on Black Saturday had its last bushfire recovery meeting (23); but having helped many bushfire survivors, an organization is asking people who used their services to provide them with some feedback (24). And finally, there's nothing like a good backrub to help you forget about bushfires!

(1) U.S. Senate panel OKs Tahoe restoration bill

(2) Early summer will decide fire season

(3) Grassfire blazes in Bradford Township

(4) Environmental Group Claims Wildfire Was Fueled by Crude Oil

(5) Historic WI wildfires: 30 years later

(6) Fire crews respond to brush fire off Forest Street

(7) Questions Linger On First Anniversary Of Shawnee Forest Wildfire

(8) Base Starts Controlled Burns To Prevent Wildfires

(9) Firefighters battle large brush fire at Forest Hill Cemetery

(10) Editorial: Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires

(11) Wildlife follows wildfire | Blaze led to nature's surprising rebirth

(12) S.C. wildfire slows I-77 traffic

(13) MAFFS exercise to visit South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center

(14) Campfire sparks wildfire south of Anderson

(15) Strathcona County firefighters save homes

(16) Helicopter used in effort to halt Connemara gorse fires

(17) Particulate Matter from Fires in the Amazon Affects Lightning Patterns

(18) More than 4500 hectares of forest destroyed in wildfires

(19) Avoiding Forest Fire Disturbances during the XVI SAARC Summit

(20) Families scorn Nixon's 'hard time' email

(21) Victoria Hosts National Rural Power Lines Workshop

(22) Public pressure leads to Grampians' burn off

(23) Bushfire committee says recovery is complete

(24) Yarra Valley bushfire survivors called on for survey

(25) TLC for bushfire survivors