WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 062110

CAL FIRE air-tankers swung into action in Escondido yesterday, helping to limit a wildfire to only 3 acres, in our first wildfire article today (1); and a 10 acre wildfire was reported in eastern San Benito County on Saturday (2). Officials in Yosemite National Park have revised their controlled burn protocols in light of a wildfire that blazed across 7,500 acres last year (3); while firefighters pounced on a blaze in the Los Padres National Forest burning south of Big Sur on Saturday (4). Two men have been charged with setting numerous illegal fires on federal land in Oregon over a period of years (5). The hectic scene at Flagstaff, Arizona's, Pulliam Airport, where helicopters were stacked up waiting for firefighting assignments, is the topic of the next article (6); as hundreds of people were evacuated from Flagstaff and its environs due to wildfires threatening the area (7); including an animal shelter and some national monuments (8); as shown in some video from CBS news (9); with US Forest Service lending heavy air-tankers to help fight them (10); although high winds forced the grounding of these aircraft after 3 PM (11). In the meantime, authorities have arrested a man for starting one of those blazes accidentally (12). An update on wildfires burning in New Mexico is provided in the next item (13); and a spokesman for Colorado's White River National Forest discusses the fire danger in Eagle County (14). The next article provides look at lightning safety during Colorado's Wildfire Awareness Week (15); but for firefighters, high temperatures and wind were the order of the day on two wildfires being battled over the weekend (16); a situation which wasn't helped by construction at Rifle, which has complicated firefighting efforts due to the inability of heavy air-tankers to land at that airport to reload (17). An article from Kansas expounds on how to protect a home from wildfires (18). A mulch fire in Salem, Massachusetts, spread to about 12 acres of woodlands over the weekend, causing about $1 million in damage to equipment (19); current conditions in that state prompting a press release about protecting homes and businesses from wildfires (20). The mixed blessing of thunderstorms is examined in an article from Florida (21); where a small wildfire was reported yesterday (22). The quest of one fire suppressant purveyor to gain a QPL designation from U.S. Forest Service is examined in the next article (23). An out-of-control wildfire in central British Columbia, Canada, has forced the evacuation of dozens of homes (24); but the wildfire evacuation for a northern town has been lifted (25). As wildfire activity continues to be minimal in Ontario, firefighters from that province are being dispatched to their less-fortunate neighbors (26); such as Quebec, where a second wave of wildfires, sparked by recent thunderstorms, is sweeping across the province (27); and lightning-sparked wildfires have kept firefighters in Nova Scotia busy over the weekend, as well (28). County Clare, Ireland, has seen nearly a fivefold increase in forest and gorse fires so far this year (29); and Turkish authorities are relying on hundreds of lookout towers, along with dozens of wildfire cameras, to help them get the jump on wildfires in what is projected to be a very busy fire season along the Mediterranean coast of that country (30). The Indian Space Research Organization has announced that it will use satellites, scheduled for liftoff within two to three years, to study wildfires (31); even as several wildfires in Vietnam's Ha Tinh Province were reported last week (32). Heading Down Under, Australia's Victorian Rhododendron Society is helping to brighten up bushfire-hit Marysville with a donation of 900 plants (33); and Tasmanian members of Timber Communities Australia are helping repair fences in bushfire-hit parts of the continent (34). And finally, here's a fun scenario: trying to put out a wildfire near a Hawaiian volcano!

(1) ESCONDIDO: Brush fire stopped at 3 acres, residents return home

(2) Wild fire contained in eastern San Benito County

(3) Yosemite revamps planned fires in park

(4) Fire south of Big Sur contained quickly

(5) Ranchers charged with Ore. wildfire arsons

(6) Helicopters line up at Pulliam Airport

(7) Hundreds of homes evacuated because of Ariz. fire

(8) Arizona wildfire forces animal shelter, national monument evacuations

(9) Raging Ariz. Wildfires

(10) Schultz Pass fire surges past 5,000 acres

(11) Heavy air tankers grounded by high winds

(12) Man arrested for starting Hardy fire, evacuation order lifted

(13) Crews make progress on wildfires across state

(14) Wildfire outlook slightly unpredictable for Vail Valley

(15) Lightning Safety and Wildfire Awareness Week: Lightning Overview

(16) High temperatures, winds help stoke fires

(17) Construction Could Pose Problems For Fire Fight

(18) Don't Fall Victim to Wildfire

(19) Firefighters tackle four-alarm mulch, brush blaze

(20) Tips to Protect Your Business Property Against Summer Wildfires

(21) Fire Season Relatively Normal, But Lightning Continues to Strike

(22) Firefighters battling 4-acre brush fire in Grant-Valkaria

(23) GelTech Solutions Continues Positive Progress With U.S. Forest Service Listing

(24) Wildfire uncontained in central B.C.

(25) Prince George Fire Centre: Wildfires Update

(26) Area fire crews head to Manitoba

(27) 18 new forest fires burning in Quebec

(28) Lightning starts three separate forest fires in Nova Scotia

(29) 460% Increase In Number Of Forest Fire Callouts

(30) Authorities on alert as Turkey under threat of forest fires

(31) Isro satellites to study forest fires

(32) Fires rip through pine forests in central Vietnam

(33) Blooms from the blaze

(34) Helping mend fences

(35) Madame Pele holds trump card in Volcano wildfire