WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 091610

First up in Wildfire News of the Day today, Wildfire NOTD subscriber William Cleary, the PCADS Program Manager at Boeing, Long Beach, California, sent along an announcement about their successful testing program at the Army Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona.

Elsewhere in the news, an update on the Canyon Fire, which has burned over 8,100 acres in Kern County, prompting an emergency declaration from Gov. Schwarzenegger, is provided (1); but three teenagers have confessed to starting a two-acre wildfire in Placer County (2). A wildfire was reported in Oregon's Ochoco National Forest yesterday (3); and another near Prineville made for stark reminders to campers and residents that wildfires are still a danger in that state (4). A low-intensity wildfire burning in Arizona's Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest continues to be monitored by firefighters (5). Calmer than expected winds have helped firefighters outside of Loveland, Colorado, increase containment to 65% on the Reservoir Road Fire (6); allowing local firefighters who had been assisting with the wildfire to head home (7). Colorado State Forest Service and the US Forest Service have been asked to perform a study of the Fourmile Fire by US Sen. Mark Udall (8); and the Boulder Sheriff's Office is receiving assistance from them, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (9). An editorial from Colorado praises firefighters for the dangerous job they did in fighting recent wildfires (10); but the next two articles demonstrate that there is still wildfire activity elsewhere in that state (11)(12). The next article points out that approximately $484 million worth of claims have been filed each year for the past decade for homes destroyed by wildfires in the Western US (13). Firefighters battling a wildfire in Twitchell Canyon, Utah, are hoping to have it under control before winds predicted for the weekend can stir it up (14); and controlled burns will be conducted in Idaho's Mountain Home Ranger District towards the end of September (15). Wildfires sparked by lightning strikes were reported in Yellowstone National Park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming (16). With humidity dropping and winds increasing, firefighters in Virginia and northern North Carolina are bracing for wildfires today (17); while firefighters in Volusia County, Florida, are wary of new wildfires breaking out, having already battled some yesterday (18). Although Saskatchewan, Canada, has had 570 wildfires this season, fire officials consider that to be a typical fire year (19). Brazil will be investing $200 million in a program to reduce wildfires that are devastating forested areas of the Amazon (20); while wildfires were reported in Albania and Bulgaria in southern Europe, and also in Morocco, North Africa (21). Sergei Shoigu, the head of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry, fresh off battling wildfires across that country, has been invited to speak at a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, after intense interest from European neighbors who may face catastrophic wildfires of their own in the future (22). Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is making the rounds of villages hard hit by recent wildfires to view reconstruction in progress (23); while the BAE 146M multirole jet aircraft, which can be adapted to fighting wildfires, is being demonstrated at an air show in South Africa (24). Whereas the Western US has the mountain pine beetle to blame for massive forest die-offs, in Australia it's eucalyptus forests that are in trouble (25); but financial shortfalls may make firefighters an endangered species in South Australia (26). Although it's been a long wait, two fire controllers who had been benched since a bushfire killed three truckers near Western Australia's Boorabbin National Park in 2007 have been reinstated (27); while the New South Wales Department of Planning has run into some problems with granting building permits in high-risk bushfire areas (28). And finally, firefighters from Bowral, New South Wales, have a simple solution if their newest firetruck is surrounded by a bushfire: take a shower!

(1) Calif forest blaze grows to 13-square-miles as firefighters slow advance, increase containment

(2) Teens take blame for brush fire

(3) Forest fire near Izee

(4) New Wildfire Battled East of Prineville

(5) Managed wildfire in progress northwest of Forest Lakes

(6) Crews contain 65 percent of N. Colo. wildfire

(7) Windsor firefighters pulled off line at Loveland's Reservoir Road fire

(8) U.S. Sen. Mark Udall requesting review of Fourmile Fire

(9) U.S. Forest Service joins investigation of Fourmile Canyon

(10) Tribune Opinion: Rushing to the aid of others

(11) Lightning causes Eagle-area wildfire

(12) Firefighters Contain Wildfire Near Castle Rock

(13) Colorado Fires a Reminder That Wildfires Pose Threats to Life and Property Well Beyond California

(14) Firefighters trying to douse Twitchell Canyon flames before weekend winds arrive

(15) Forest Service plans fall prescribed burns

(16) Lightning storms start fires in park, forest

(17) Weather Service: Increased fire danger today

(18) Firefighters Watch For Brush Flare-Ups

(19) Typical Forest Fire Season

(20) Brazil unveils $200M plan to save savanna

(21) EFFIS - Current Situation

(22) Russian emergencies chief to share forest fire experience at NATO summit

(23) Vladimir Putin inspects reconstruction in villages hit by forest fires

(24) : BAE Systems Promotes BAe 146m At African Aerospace And Defence Show

(25) Receding gums: What ails Australia's iconic trees?

(26) Fire services lose out on more funds

(27) Boorabbin fire incident controllers reinstated

(28) Planning laws fail fire rating

(29) Fire brigade’s new tanker is state-of-art