WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 040210

LA Times reporter Bettina Boxall reports on a new study from UC Berkeley's Center for Fire Research and Outreach which lays out the peculiarities of Santa Ana winds in Southern California (a summary of the study can be found here), in our first wildfire article today (1); and in a response to yesterday's article about a push to get US Forest Service to lift their ban on night air-attack on wildfires in Angeles National Forest, LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich applauded the news, continuing to call for a Congressional inquiry into USFS conduct during the Station Fire (2). CAL FIRE's oldest continuously-operating fire camp was praised for turning young offenders into first-class wildland firefighters (3); but a national weather report reduced the wildfire threat for Eastern Washington this year (4). A wildfire in Otero County, Colorado, has already scorched 1,000 acres (5); while a combination of suspicious fires and controlled burns has produced a wildfire with which Texas Forest Service is grappling (6); and a wildfire up in the Panhandle destroyed a pair of trucks (7). An Iowa firefighter suffered some injuries when a controlled burn breached firefighters' lines and burned into a cornfield (8); and a trio of firefighters were injured battling a grass fire in Wisconsin, the most seriously injured needing a medevac by helicopter (9); even as a 20-acre wildfire was reported near the town of Dewey yesterday afternoon (10). Wildfires burned close to a residential area in Bloomington, Minnesota, on Thursday (11); but ROTC cadets at a community college in Michigan helped conduct a controlled burn to eliminate invasive species on school property (12). Several counties in Indiana are under a Red Flag warning due to the increase in wildfire danger there (13); and fire agencies in Northern Ohio are also on guard as the spring fire season begins (14). Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest was subjected to controlled burns in preparation for wildfire season (15); and nearly three dozen wildfires singed 700 acres in Arkansas within a 24-hour period this week (16). US Forest Service firefighters lit off a few controlled burns in Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest (17); firefighters across Pennsylvania's Allegheny Mountain Range are gearing up for a wildfire season projected to run through May (18); while firefighters elsewhere in the Keystone State battled a blaze outside of Mercersburg (19). The combination of abundant vegetation, due to above-average rainfall, along with unseasonably warm temperatures, elevated the wildfire threat in Virginia for the upcoming weekend (20); and authorities in West Virginia are advising residents to refrain from outdoor burning for a few days due to hot, dry weather in the area (21). Alabama Forestry Commission battled a trio of blazes in Mobile County yesterday (22); while several agencies battled a blaze in Gilmer County, Georgia (23). Dozens of Swedish students will get some training in fighting wildland fires at a Canadian wildfire facility in British Columbia (24); even as the province of Ontario announced the advent of a new fire season, which will run through October (25). Cuba's Ministry of the Interior is assuring tourists that they have the wildfire situation under control after 129 fires have burned thousands of acres since the first of the year (26); while elsewhere in the Caribbean, the nation of Trinidad has a tough month ahead due to the bushfire danger there (27). A Russian-built BE-200 firefighting jet made quite a splash in Venezuela as it continues its tour of South America before flying to Santa Maria, California, in a few days (28); and the firefighting demonstration prompted that government to ask visiting Russian Prime Minister Putin for the means to purchase several aircraft (29). Rising temperatures and the lack of spring rains have elevated the danger of wildfires in India's Himachal Pradesh region (30); but now that bushfire season is departing, firefighters in South Australia have 56 controlled burns planned (31). And finally, returning to the Caribbean island of Trinidad, our last article tells how a sports team was spared from certain defeat by, of all things, a bushfire!

(1) Hot, dry Santa Anas a particular threat in some Southern California areas

(2) Antonovich: Lift ban on nighttime aerial firefighting

(3) Public sees major benefits, strong results from Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp

(4) Eastern Washington not among hot spots in wildfire predictions

(5) Rocky Ford wildfire burned 1,000 acres

(6) UPDATE: Wildfire made of suspicious blazes

(7) Crews fighting wildfire near Borger

(8) Firefighter Suffers Minor Injuries After Brush Fire in SW Iowa

(9) Three firefighters injured battling grass fire

(10) Fire sweeps through 20 acres near town of Dewey

(11) Bloomington homes threatened by wildfires

(12) Controlled burn on land owned by Jackson Community College kills invasive species and helps to train students

(13) Weather officials warn of wildfires

(14) Forecasters Warning of Potential Wildfires in Valley

(15) Mark Twain National Forest undergoes controlled burns

(16) Wildfires Spark Across Arkansas

(17) Forest Service holds controlled burn

(18) First Responders Prepare For Forest Fire Season

(19) Woods fire off Blairs Valley Road under investigation

(20) Wildfire Threat On The Rise in Virginia

(21) Brush Fires Ignite, Even With Season Restrictions

(22) Burn becomes wildfire in Mobile County

(23) Authorities Battle Gilmer County Fire

(24) Swedish students come for firefighter training

(25) The very first forest fire report of 2010

(26) Cuba works to prevent forest fires

(27) Met Office: Please control bush fires

(28) Russian fire-fighting plane makes demonstration flight in Venezuela

(29) Venezuela seeks to buy 50 Russian aircraft - source

(30) Forest fires eat into green cover in Narkanda, Himachal

(31) Season of friendly fires

(32) Bushfire saves South-West