WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 100710

A Sacramento, California, firefighter who was rushed to the hospital with heart problems after battling a grass fire at a golf course has died (1); but CAL FIRE has removed the burn ban for their Amador-El Dorado-Sacramento-Alpine Unit in Central California (2). A professor from Oregon State University College of Forestry will be speaking on the importance of wildfires in forest ecology at Corvallis (3); even as the US Forest Service has decided to allow logging in Oregon's Umpqua National Forest in order to reduce the fire danger (4). Lightning was being blamed for a small wildfire that broke out on Smugglers Mountain near Aspen, Colorado (5); while a 530-acre wildfire burning in Grant County will probably not be extinguished until snowfall arrives (6). A small wildfire was reported 5 miles south of Newton, Texas (7); and a spokesman for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department discusses the importance of wildfires in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest (8). Fire crews are moving forward with plans for several controlled burns in South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest (9); but in a follow-up to yesterday's article about the controversial decision by Tennessee firefighters to let a home burn due to unpaid firefighting fees, the owner's wife weighs in on the debate (10). Officials in Allen Parish, Louisiana, fear that conditions which have led to recent wildfires in that state reflect conditions not seen since the bad wildfire year of 2000 (11); while the Shreveport Corps of The Salvation Army is providing sustenance to firefighters battling a wildfire at Lake Bistineau State Park (12). An apparent transformer fire sparked a wildfire which closed State Route 520 in Brevard County, Florida, yesterday (13). Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs sent a thank-you note to Lithuania for their help during Russia's wildfire siege during the summer (14); while a number of wildfires continued to burn in Algeria, North Africa (15). An Op-Ed piece from Queensland, Australia, discusses the danger to both rural and urban areas from bushfires (16). And finally, Rhode Island firefighters had to make a pet rescue during a house fire, but this went well beyond the traditional 'getting the kitty out of a tree' scenario!

(1) Sacramento firefighter dies after fighting grass fire

(2) Officials ease burn ban; seasonal fire crews cut

(3) Forest fires will be focus of Science Pub Corvallis

(4) Forest Service will allow logging inside roadless area near Diamond Lake to reduce fire danger

(5) Lightning sparks small wildfire near Aspen

(6) Fire will burn until snow flies

(7) Wildfire under control

(8) Stinking, inconvenient eyesores: Fires boost landscape diversity, health

(9) Prescribed burn planned Thursday near Spearfish Canyon

(10) Woman doesn't blame firefighters who let home burn

(11) Fires reminiscent of year 2000 wildfires

(12) Salvation Army helps fire crews as they fight Bistineau wildfire

(13) SR-520 Reopens In Cocoa After Wildfire

(14) Russia thanks Lithuania for sending aid to fight forest fires

(15) EFFIS - Current Situation

(16) Are you bushfire prepared?

(17) RI firefighters save 18-foot snake in burning home