WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 010710

First up in wildfire news today, the Santa Monica Mountains CWPP is continuing wildfire preparation meetings in Southern California communities (1); but despite some major wildfires in California, statistically speaking it turned out to be a below-normal fire season statewide (2). The Five Fire burning in Arizona's Coronado National Forest has passed the 40 acre mark (3); and a press release was sent along by Chris Mehl of Montana-based Headwaters Economics on the escalating cost of wildfires in the US (4). Parts of Florida are under a red-flag warning from the National Weather Service (5); while an Op-Ed piece from Hawaii laments the loss of flora and fauna in a recent wildfire (6). A Firehouse.com article provides a refresher course for structure firefighters on the finer points of wildland firefighting (strike team members take note!) (7) The South American nation of Colombia will be getting some assistance from the US in battling wildfires that have been blazing since the weekend south of Bogota (8). A photo gallery of heli-tankers in action over New Zealand bushfires is provided by the next item (9); but some other heli-tankers had to use their monsoon buckets on a different sort of fire at a wood-chipping plant in Christchurch (10). Martin Mars owner Wayne Coulson sent along an article about their impending journey to Australia to assist local fire authorities with their high-tech S-76 Firewatch helicopter (11). Researchers in Australia detailed a novel new approach to detecting bushfires in a new study published in the International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology (12). Victoria's fire chiefs now have a powerful new weapon to wield against bushfires, as the DC-10 becomes operational (13); and it may be none too soon, as the weather forecast looks ominous (14); with CFA warning residents to keep a sharp eye out for arsonists to boot (15). Parks Victoria is on the hot-seat after angry merchants complained that out-of-date bushfire warning messages were scaring away the tourists in areas still recovering from a drop-off in the tourist trade after the Black Saturday bushfires (16); but as the one-year anniversary of Black Saturday approaches, the next article does a retrospective of the impact on Victorians (17). A local bank has contributed $20,000 to a growing bushfire appeal fund to aid families impacted by recent bushfires in West Australia (18); while firefighters in Tasmania are getting a handle on a bushfire that had breached containment lines (19). And finally, two stories from different parts of the world show wildfire survivors responding artistically to the trauma they endured.

(1) Meetings on wildfire prevention

(2) Final stats are in, and 2009 was a mild year for wildfires in California

(3) Mt. Lemmon wildfire expands to 40 acres

(4) Curbing wildfires' cost

(5) Red Flag Warning issued; conditions ripe for wildfire

(6) Opinion: Untold story of the tragic mauka forest fires

(7) Wildland Fire Behavior: A "Tune-up" for Structural Firefighters

(8) US to help subdue Colombia forest fires: Uribe

(9) Helicopters firefighting at Roxburgh

(10) Firefighters battle Christchurch blaze

(11) Firewatch heads Down Under

(12) Mobile bushfire monitoring

(13) Super soaker gets green light

(14) New fire warnings as state gears for heatwave

(15) Public put on firebug alert

(16) Out-of-date fire messages hurting tourism

(17) Sounds of Summer - Victorian bushfires

(18) Toodyay Bushfire Appeal reaches $170,000

(19) Crews containing York Town blaze

(20) Residents invited to free mural art workshop

(21) Black art sheds light on a bushfire disaster