WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 031810

In our first wildfire article today, a California state senator from Long Beach is proposing a smoking ban in all state parks, in part to reduce wildfires (1); and CAL FIRE is ramping up practice sessions for the fire season, including some helicopter rescue maneuvers at Ukiah (2). Using the tree rings of Giant Sequoias, University of Arizona researchers have traced the fire history of the area back three thousand years! (3) A number of agencies coordinated their efforts in an exercise in Wisconsin yesterday that simulated a massive wildfire (4); while a wildfire in Michigan's Upper Peninsula was reported yesterday afternoon (5); and a trio of wildfires were reported along railroad tracks in Maine yesterday (5). A pair of wildfires in British Columbia are finally contained, as that Canadian province has an early start to the fire season (7); but having enjoyed a quiet wildfire season last year, Ontario is preparing for something a bit more active this year, just in case (8); even as it was disclosed that too many simultaneous emergencies delayed firefighters in Nova Scotia's capital from reaching a wildfire until after eight homes were destroyed last spring (9). Officials on the Pacific island of Guam are instituting a wildfire prevention program due to a rash of grassfires (10). A bushfire near an airport on New Zealand's North Island kept firefighters and heli-tankers busy (11); while homeowners in Marlborough on the South Island were evacuated due to a bushfire that started yesterday that now threatened their homes (12). An arsonist may be at work on New Zealand's Otago Peninsula again, as a suspicious bushfire broke out in a forested area (13); but it was Australian firefighters from Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) who lost control of a prescribed burn yesterday, threatening a township (14). A star-studded tribute to the people of Victoria who weathered the Black Saturday bushfires will kick off on April 7th (15); and a fund-raising event that donated thousands of dollars to women impacted by those bushfires last year hopes to do the same this year (16). Western Australia is having to extend its bushfire season until the middle of April due to continued fire danger (17); something underscored by a bushfire sparked by an unattended campfire (18); while children playing with fireworks are believed to be responsible for a bushfire near an airstrip elsewhere in that state (19). And finally, firefighters in the UK called on to rescue a pet duck trapped in a pipe probably wondered if USAR was all that it's quaked up to be!

(1) Calif. considers smoking ban at all state parks

(2) Firefighters practice rescue by helicopter

(3) Giant Sequoias Yield Longest Fire History from Tree Rings

(4) Wildfire drill fosters teamwork

(5) Crews battle wildfire

(6) Fires Burn Woods In Auburn, New Gloucester

(7) Update: Two West Kelowna fires in mop up stage

(8) MNR braces for fire season

(9) Firefighter delay may have fanned wildfire

(10) Campaign looks to curb wildfires

(11) Firefighters to stay at Kerikeri airport

(12) Residents evacuated as fire spreads

(13) Another suspicious fire in Wenita Forest block

(14) Town on alert as bushfire bears down

(15) Kinglake says thanks with concert

(16) Be a good neighbour at Epping

(17) WA bushfire season extended

(18) Abandoned camp fire triggers bush blaze

(19) Bushfire burns close to airstrip

(20) Quack firefighting team rescue pet duck wedged in pipe