WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 092210

A New York Times article examines the fire season in the Western US to date (1); while the difficult situation of rehabilitating burned areas in Oregon's Siskiyous is examined by the next article (2). It's apt to get a little smoky around Pulliam Airport in Flagstaff, Arizona, today, as firefighters burn debris piles (3); and the Roosevelt Hotshots and the Rogue River Hotshots battled a 30-acre wildfire near Steamboat Springs, Colorado (4). A breathtaking photo from the International Space Station of Utah's Machine Gun Fire is the next item up (5); followed by some video from the fireline (6); where hundreds of firefighters continued to battle the blaze (7); and the fire is considered 50% contained after burning 4,300 acres (8). Adhering to the motto "never let a good crisis go to waste", fire authorities in Salt Lake City are using the Machine Gun Fire as a cautionary tale to get homeowners prepared for wildfires (9). National Park Service officials have elevated the fire danger rating in southern Utah to "high" (10); and Wired Magazine takes us on a tour of the McCall Smokejumper Base in Idaho next (11). Missouri City Fire Department will be getting a new brush truck from funds provided by Texas Forest Service (12); which firefighters in Wyoming could probably use on the Antelope Fire, which has burned nearly 2,200 acres in Yellowstone National Park and is now about 20% contained (13). A field fire in Indiana burned several acres, forcing evacuation of numerous homes (14); and an update on the wildfire situation in Alabama is provided by the next item (15). The North Carolina Division of Forestry Services had a busy day with wildfires yesterday (16); at least one of which may have been intentionally set (17); while fire stations in Horry County, South Carolina, will fly red flags on high-wildfire-danger days from now on (18). Florida Division of Forestry battled a wildfire near Eglin Air Force Base yesterday which nearly prompted the evacuation of the Alaqua Animal Refuge (19); and a wildfire in Volusia County gave residents some tense moments yesterday afternoon (20). As the Canadian Forestry Association kicks off National Forest Week, they were reminding residents of Alberta, Canada, about the importance of completely extinguishing outdoor fires (21); but British Columbia's Wildfire Co-ordination Centre at Kamloops provides some sobering figures for this year's fire season which burned hundreds of thousands of acres, costing some $209 million to suppress (22); and some statistics on wildfires in Saskatchewan are provided by the next article (23). Providential rains have quenched a wildfire near Machu Picchu in Peru's Andes Mountains (24); while a new wildfire was reported in Aboim da Nobrega, Portugal (25). In the aftermath of the wildfires of summer, Russia will beef up their fire aviation units (26); this coming at a time when wildfires are still burning in Siberia and the Ural Mountains (27). Firefighters in Jerusalem struggled to battle blazes started by rioters in, ironically, Peace Forest (28); while a wildfire in Madagascar's Isalo National Park caused extensive damage (the translated article can be found here) (29). Taking a leaf from US and Canadian firefighters' playbooks, Australia is setting up a response team to assess habitat damage after bushfires (30). A plan to aid residents of one Victoria shire trying to clear out excess vegetation before bushfire season has run into some problems (31); but Rainforest Recovery, an environmental organization, was surprised to discover that an ancient species of liverwort had survived the Black Saturday bushfires in that state (32). The South-West Local Government Emergency Management Alliance had a forum to discuss Western Australia's preparations for bushfire season (33); while firefighters in one New South Wales community are gearing up for bushfire season (34). And finally, firefighters in Charleston, South Carolina, returned from a fire to find their own fire station ablaze!

(1) 2010 Gives West a Respite From Fire — So Far

(2) Fire recovery presents 'a tricky balance'

(3) Fire department burning piles near airport

(4) Crews battling wildfire south of Hayden

(5) Twitchell Canyon Fire

(6) Fire crews take KSL News to frontline battle

(7) More than 400 firefighters continue to fight Herriman blaze

(8) Herriman fire 50 percent contained

(9) Herriman wildfire a good reminder for homeowners to prep yards

(10) Fire Danger Rated "High" In Grand Teton National Park and Surrounding Bridger-Teton National

(11) Death-Wish Jobs: Smokejumpers Meld Sky Diving, Firefighting

(12) Missouri City FD gets new tool for fighting brush fires

(13) Road remains closed in Yellowstone due to poor visibility at Antelope Fire

(14) Firefighters battle large field fire on southwest side

(15) Officials: Dry weather dangerous

(16) Dry Conditions Continue To Spark Brush Fires In Area

(17) Officials: Durham Brush Fire Could Have Been Intentionally Set

(18) Horry County Fire Rescue to fly red flags at area fire stations

(19) Highway 20 Wildfire

(20) Wildfire Threatens Edgewater Homes

(21) National Forest Week

(22) Wildfires 2010: Fewer blazes, but more hectares burned

(23) More fires than usual in northern Sask. this year

(24) Rains in Cusco extinguish forest fire near Machu Picchu

(25) EFFIS - Current Situation

(26) Russia moves to create forest aviation units following wildfire crisis

(27) Fires raging in 2 national parks, nature reserve in Siberia, Urals

(28) Firefighters working to put out fires in Silwan

(29) Fire in National Park of Isalo

(30) Bushfire response team to assess habitat damage

(31) Moorabool waste bid dumped

(32) Ancient species survived Black Saturday devastation

(33) Forum focuses on summer bushfire readiness

(34) Urban bushfire assault

(35) Firefighters return to station kitchen fire