WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 042810

First up in wildfire news today, subscriber Rick Halsey, director of the California Chaparral Institute, sent along a press release about the ongoing battle in San Diego County over unpaid fines for vegetation clearance that may result in an ex-Marine's eviction from his property (1); this at a time when firefighters practiced wildfire drills on the Viejas Indian Reservation (2); while the date for San Diego Gas & Electric to have their powerlines underground (2063) may get moved up due to some new developments (3). The Kern River Valley Fire Safe Council will be offering residents free consultation on how to make your property safer from wildfires (4); but the San Joaquin Valley still has seen high levels of pollution, in part due to wildfire smoke, causing the American Lung Association to give them a poor grade for air quality (5). CAL FIRE firefighters were busy training in the Santa Cruz Mountains to prepare for next month's advent of the wildfire season (6); and the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council will be holding a Wildfire Preparedness Expo on May 1 at the Boonville Fairgrounds (7). Despite the break up of a coalition attempting to plot a wildfire strategy for Northern California communities, the individual members agree they still need to put a wildfire protection plan into place (8). Landscape experts from Washington state are educating the public on the importance of landscaping defensible space instead of just leaving it bare (9); while a high school science team in New Mexico won a supercomputer challenge with a wildfire behavior model (10). Utah's Cedar City Fire Department did some wildfire training to prepare for the season (11); and the US Department of Agriculture is making emergency loans available for farmers in Texas who suffered losses due to wildfires (12). Firefighters in Minnesota are hoping for rain to help dampen the fire threat as well as refill the reservoirs (13); but a volunteer firefighter from Wisconsin has been charged with paying a youth to set grass fires so the firefighter could earn some money putting them out (14). Weather conditions are increasing the fire danger across parts of Connecticut tomorrow (15). The New Jersey Forest Resource Education Center, which touches on the topic of forest fires as part of its program, is highlighted in the next story (16); while the North Carolina Forest Service is warning homeowners that pine straw, a common ingredient in landscaping in some areas, poses a serious wildfire hazard as they have seen an above-average wildfire season this year (17). Firefighters in Florida are dealing with an abundance of fuel left behind by wintertime freezes that killed vegetation throughout the state, as the next article tells (18); followed by a story about the deadly danger to firefighters posed by on-the-job stress (19). The destruction of two dozen forests in the Himalayan nation of Nepal have cost millions of rupees in medicinal herbs (20); and wildfires in Vietnam's Tram Chim National Park are threatening an endangered species of crane as that nation sees 10 times the normal number of wildfires burning (21). A deputy fire chief from Sacramento, California, will be testifying before Australia's Royal Bushfire Commission on how wildfire evacuations are conducted in the US, including the massive evacuation done in San Diego County during the 2007 wildfires (22). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Colin Stewart of Thermo-Gel in Australia sent along an article that contains some sobering statistics on the makeup of the Black Saturday victims (23). Contradictions over expectations on the whereabouts of Police Commissioner Christine Nixon during Black Saturday have arisen as the investigation into events that day continues (24); and a man on trial for starting several bushfires in Gippsland just prior to Black Saturday will be appearing in court to answer the charges (25). An Australian utility will be using aircraft equipped with high resolution digital cameras, GPS equipment and computers to examine powerlines in New South Wales in order to reduce the bushfire danger from their equipment (26). And finally, in a look back at a bygone era, a story from 1914 shows the eclipse of the horse-drawn fire steamer by the newfangled firetruck in Auburn, Maine!

(1) County refuses to help US Marine veteran keep his home

(2) San Diego firefighters in the ultimate fire drill

(3) Sempra Energy Emphasis on Utilities over Commodity Trading a Plus for Power Line Undergrounding?

(4) Free help to make your property fire safe!

(5) San Joaquin Valley's air again fails to make grade

(6) Local Firefighters Tune Up For Fire Season

(7) Don't forget expo

(8) Fire protection plans survive end of project

(9) Prepare for wildfires with fire resistant plants

(10) Winning NM project models wildfire behavior

(11) Wildfire response training

(12) Public Service Announcement from USDA-Farm Service Agency

(13) Fire danger high, water levels low in Borderland

(14) Firefighter Charged with Arson in an Attempt to Earn Extra Cash

(15) High forest fire danger likely on Thursday

(16) Forest center is a gem in Jackson

(17) Fire officials warn pine straw may add to homeowner risk

(18) Last winter's freeze could mean more wildfires now

(19) Stress leading cause of death for firefighters

(20) Bushfires destroy two dozen forests

(21) Vietnam forest fires threaten rare crane

(22) Commission examines US bushfire evacuation plan

(23) Most fire victims failed to prepare

(24) Deputy contradicts Nixon over bushfire

(25) Fire expert to front bushfires committal hearing

(26) Country Energy schedules aerial checks of system

(27) River Views: Horses pitted against machines in fire fight