WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 060310

In a sign of the times, Los Angeles County firefighters are conducting defensible-space inspections in the La Canada area, our first wildfire article today (1); while two men who were charged with starting a wildfire in Malibu in 2007 that destroyed 53 homes have pleaded no contest (2). Firefighters quickly roped in a 4 acre wildfire Lake Elsinore yesterday afternoon (3); and a wildfire north of San Jacinto, which had the potential to burn thousands of acres, was limited to only 15 acres due to a massive attack by CAL FIRE firefighters yesterday (4). Children may be setting fires in Flagstaff, Arizona, where firefighters had to snuff a small blaze behind an apartment complex (5); but the Horseshoe Fire, which is located in the Chiricahua Mountains along the Arizona-New Mexico border, continues to burn (6). The Rio Fire, which is burning in New Mexico's Jemez Mountains, was nearing the 2,000 acre mark late last night (7); and a rash of wildfires in Teller County, Colorado, has prompted officials to ask for the public's help in apprehending an arsonist (8). The 747 Supertanker has forward-deployed to a base in Mississippi where it is waiting for a call from BP to begin dropping dispersant on the Gulf oil slick (9). As firefighters from the Lower 48 arrived to help, dry weather and lightning are making for an active fire season in Alaska's interior (10); and there was even a small wildfire on Oahu, Hawaii, yesterday (11). Improvements to the Castlegar Air Attack Base in British Columbia, Canada, are expected to pay off when the wildfires finally arrive (12). Officials are asking for the public's help in tracking down an arsonist in Ontario (13); where firefighters are bracing for an active fire season (14); and the wildfires are wasting no time getting started! (15) As a raging wildfire closes in on a copper mine in the Yukon, management has a four-stage evacuation plan in place (16). BE-200 firefighting aircraft saw some action in Irkutsk, Russia, as nearly a dozen wildfires burned thousands of acres (17); even as the Russian First Deputy Prime Minister warned of punishments for officials who don't do a good job preventing fires (there were an estimated 22,000 wildfires in Russia last year alone, and 10,000 so far this year) (18). An environmental group in India has blamed fire agencies' slow response for the destruction of thousands of acres of timber (19). Heading to Australia, Queensland fire fighters took part in a bushfire exercise in Beerburrum State Forest (20); even as that state began implementing a new program of Mitigation and Education Officers, this in response to the most recent bushfire season in which over 4,000 blazes were reported there (21). After auto collisions in the Northern Territory caused by controlled-burn bushfire smoke, accusations that some fire officials like setting fires a bit too much have been aired (22); while testimony continued in the trial of a man accused of setting one of the Black Saturday bushfires (23). Demonstration of a firefighting chemical developed over a 14 year period in Western Australia caught the attention of fire officials (24). And finally, our last article shows that only math can prevent forest fires!

(1) Inspections start as fire season nears

(2) 2 men plead no contest to starting 2007 Malibu wildfire

(3) LAKE ELSINORE: Wildfire stopped at 4 acres

(4) Fire north of San Jacinto contained at 15 acres

(5) Firefighters quell brush fire

(6) Wildfire still burning along AZ-NM border

(7) Rio Fire grows, crews fighting it too

(8) Unexplained wildfires reported in Teller County

(9) New weapon against BP oil spill: A jumbo jet

(10) New wildfire warnings in effect for Interior Alaska

(11) Firefighters battling brush fire in Nanakuli

(12) Investment into firefighting made in West Kootenay

(13) Crime Stoppers wants info on Timmins Fire Nine

(14) Ontario ripe for forest fires

(15) 23 new wildfires confirmed in the region

(16) ‘We have an emergency plan in place’

(17) Forest-fire emergency situation declared in Irkutsk suburbia

(18) Officials not fighting wood fires, illegal woodcutting to be fired

(19) Nature Watch blames officials for reccurrence of forest fires

(20) Firefighters take part in exercise

(21) Volunteer scheme on track to assist with Queensland fire safety

(22) 'Pyromaniacs at work for Govt'

(23) Magistrates' Court told of man's disruptive behaviour

(24) Product kills fires

(25) Only math can prevent forest fires