WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 060510

The skies of northern San Diego County are going to get a little more smoky next week due to Marine firefighter training taking place at Camp Pendleton all week long (1); but five small wildfires that burned in disparate parts of that county kept firefighters hopping as temperatures continued to rise throughout the region (2). An Op-Ed piece looks at the impact of Proposition 16 on the proposed Wildfire Expense Balancing Account (WEBA) (3); while an ex-CAL FIRE division chief is arguing that the Sunrise PowerLink transmission lines should be put underground to reduce the threat of wildfires in San Diego's East County (4). A 900-acre hayfield fire near Porterville, apparently caused by a hay-bailer, resulted in the scrambling of CAL FIRE air tankers in support of firefighters on the ground (5). Tentative agreements have been reached between families of 10 firefighters from Oregon killed in an S-61 helicopter crash in Northern California last year and three of the five defendants (6); but although Western Washington has been blessed with lots of rain, officials in Snohomish County warned that this has also led to excessive growth of vegetation, requiring homeowners to clear defensible space around their homes (7). The Horseshoe Fire burning in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains is considered to be 25% contained after burning 2,200 acres (8); and fire officials at New Mexico's Taos National Forest are warning visitors of the extreme fire danger (9). The Eagle Trail Fire, which has already burned 18,000 acres in Alaska, has been damped down a bit by rain (10). Heading to Canada, Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources has lifted the fire ban for much of the Northeast (11); followed by an update on the fire situation in that province (12); even as New Brunswick's Natural Resources Department has dispatched firefighters to help battle blazes in Québec, where several fires are still out of control (13). Forest fires near a gas terminal in County Mayo, Ireland, resulted in the dispatch of some firefighters yesterday (14); and Finland, which lost only about 3,000 acres to wildfires last year, has offered help to Turkey, which has the highest amount of wildfire losses in Europe (about 50,000 acres burned in 2008) (15). Fire officials in Benguet Province, Philippines, have been having problems with forest fires associated with illegal logging (16). And finally, the opening of an indoor swimming pool in Marysville, Victoria, is one small victory on the long march back from the Black Saturday bushfires!

(1) CAMP PENDLETON: Firefighters to train starting Monday

(2) Firefighters contain five small brush fires

(3) What If Proposition 16 Passes and We Get WEBA-Billed?

(4) Ex-Fire Chief: Sunrise Powerlink Poses Fire Risk

(5) 'Bales' fire contained at more than 900 acres

(6) Tentative agreements reached with families of 10 firefighters involved in fatal California helicopter crash

(7) Rain now may fuel summers wildfires

(8) Officials say human-caused wildfire in S. Arizona now 25% contained

(9) Carson Forest warns of extreme fire conditions

(10) Mat-Su burn restrictions lifted, but crews still fighting wildfires

(11) MNR, city lift fire ban for Timmins area

(12) Changes made to area fire restrictions

(13) N.B. on the ground to fight PQ fires

(14) Inquiry into fires near Corrib gas terminal

(15) Finns offer to help Turkey in combating forest fires

(16) Increase in forest fires noted in Trinidad

(17) Marysville opens indoor swimming pool