WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 092010

First up in Wildfire News Of The Day, subscriber Brian Fennessy, Assistant Fire Chief for San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, sent along a video clip with the following explanation:

Copter 1, 2 and the SDGE helitanker that SDFD is managing did a flyby. The retired FDNY San Diego Chapter organizes this event each year and it continues to grow. Last several years have been on the deck of the USS Midway. They had the crews from 33 Engine and 9 Ladder fly out to join the tribute. Also had a widow of one of the 9 Ladder firefighters and her 11 year old son there to speak. Real moving experience. Highly attended and expectations are that the 10 year anniversary will be huge.

Elsewhere in the news, an item from JPL meteorologist Bill Patzert was passed along by Wildfire NOTD subscriber Tony Morris, Director of Communications for Wildfire Research Network, which addresses the issue of a La Nina effect increasing wildfire danger in the southwestern United States (2). The suppression cost of a wildfire that burned near Bullards Bar Reservoir in California's Sierra Nevadas earlier this year tallied up to about $5 million (3); while CAL FIRE responded to two wildfires in the Eldorado National Forest (4); and their air-tankers got the jump on a 25-acre wildfire that broke out near Mid-Pines (5). Wildfire risk has elevated around Medford, Oregon, where thousands of homeowners have not created defensible space to protect their residences (6); and as firefighters make progress on a wildfire in the Willamette National Forest, some roads are being reopened (7). Now that fire season is winding down, fire managers in Nevada are reporting on a less-active wildfire year than normal, with only 15 fires burning over the 100-acre mark (8). A new wildfire has been reported in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park (9); and a grass fire briefly threatened homes near Fort Collins (10); but fire crews quickly roped in a 10-acre wildfire that broke out near Nederland, prompting evacuations of several residential areas (11). Investigators now believe that a wildfire that burned on Peewink Mountain, Colorado, was sparked by a power line (12); but although the embers are barely cold, burn area emergency rehabilitation (BAER) efforts have already begun in areas scorched by recent wildfires near Denver (13). Although forest managers were proclaiming Boulder's wildfire mitigation efforts before the Fourmile Fire effective, Sen. Mark Udall wants an investigation to see just how effective they really were (14). The next two articles provide different outlooks in the aftermath of the Fourmile Fire: droves of residents turned out at a parade to honor firefighters for saving their homes (15); while those who weren't so fortunate mourned their losses (16). A wind-driven wildfire sparked by a live-fire exercise on a National Guard base 30 miles outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, now threatens about 1,400 homes (17); while the 22,800-acre Twitchell Canyon Fire burning in Fishlake National Forest forced closure of I-70 over the weekend due to smoke reducing visibility (18). An update on the Antelope Fire, which has burned 1,600 acres in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park, is provided by the next item (19); but slow regrowth of portions of Montana's Bitterroot National Forest after a devastating fire in 2000 that burned 307,000 acres offers a cautionary tale about how larger, more expensive wildfires are changing the landscape (20). An arboretum in Michigan has unveiled a Firewise Garden to highlight the importance of protecting one's home from wildfires (21). Fire officials were reminding residents of Arkansas about the continuing fire danger in a state where nearly 1,000 acres have burned since Saturday (22); and one firefighter was injured while battling a grass fire in Louisiana that may have begun as a trash fire (23). A wildfire was reported in Lawrence County, Alabama, Saturday afternoon (24); while a wildfire in American Legion State Forest took firefighters from Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection two hours to bring under control on Saturday (25); this coming at a time when burn bans have been put in place in parts of Virginia due to the wildfire danger (26); and the Florida Division of Forestry expended $21 million in wildfire mitigation efforts near Tallahassee (27). The next article provides a summary of wildfires that have burned in Hawaii, where the National Park Service has closed numerous areas due to the fire danger, including Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (28). A large forest fire was burning in Brazil's Aguas Emendadas National Park Ecological Station near the capital of Brasilia over the weekend, as shown by the next two articles (29)(30). A number of wildfires were reported in Spain and Portugal, as well as the North African nation of Algeria (31). Bulgarian firefighters recounted their efforts fighting the Russian wildfires this summer to an EU commission, including their efforts digging tunnels to attack peat fires underground (32); but air-tankers and firefighters on the ground were in action in Russia’s Ulyanovsk region where a wind-driven wildfire was spreading (33). In continuing efforts to produce a bushfire-proof home, Australian designers at CSIRO are touting new insulation which is much tougher than fiberglass (34); while movie actress and activist Daryl Hannah was in Victoria urging homeowners whose residences were destroyed in the Black Saturday bushfires to "rebuild green" (35); and the importance of advertising to reduce bushfire losses in Victoria is examined by the next article (36). The battle over compensation for Toodyay, Western Australia, bushfire survivors got a couple of headlines today: the Premier is still grappling with Western Power over admitting their guilt in starting the blaze (37); but the state government will not pay class-action plaintiffs' legal fees (38). Rural Fire Service firefighters continued conducting controlled burns in New South Wales ahead of bushfire season (39). And finally, a Massachusetts firefighter proved to a fleeing criminal that it's hard to get away from the long arm of the... fire department!?!

(1) SDFD Helo Flyover 091110

(2) Cool La Nina Heats Up Fire Danger in U.S. Southwest

(3) Bullards Fire's price tag tops $5 million

(4) Two Fires Burn In El Dorado National Forest

(5) Tankers Helping Fight Fire In Mid Pines

(6) Much of Medford at risk of wildfires

(7) Access closures modified at site of Scott Mountain Fire

(8) Nevada dodges wildfire bullet

(9) Wildfire Burning In Rocky Mountain National Park

(10) Firefighters gain control of brush fire north of Fort Collins

(11) Crews quickly contain new Boulder wildfire

(12) Peewink Mountain Fire apparently started on a power pole

(13) Fourmile fire rehabilitation efforts get started, could stretch on for years

(14) Fire mitigation efforts west of Boulder under review; officials say it worked by some measures

(15) Parade held to honor Fourmile Fire firefighters

(16) Fire victims hold on to memories

(17) Homes lost to Utah wildfire

(18) Wildfire smoke closes Utah highway

(19) Yellowstone National Park grows to 1,600 acres

(20) Bitterroot National Forest regrowth patchy 10 years after fires

(21) Fighting fires with Firewise

(22) Wildfires Still Threaten Arkansas

(23) Firefighters battling blaze in Webster, Bossier parishes

(24) Large wildfire in Lawrence County

(25) Brush fire keeps Barkhamsted fire-fighters busy

(26) Newport News, York County ban open burning due to wildfire concerns

(27) Hundreds of Homes Protected by Division of Forestry Wildfire Mitigation

(28) Drought spurs efforts to reduce wildfire risk

(29) Big forest blaze near Brazil

(30) Big forest fire near Brazilian capital

(31) EFFIS - Current Situation

(32) European Commission 'Proud' of Bulgarian Firefighters in Russia

(33) Wildfires spreading in Ulyanovsk region over dry weather and strong winds

(34) New insulation material can save homes

(35) Daryl Hannah urges green rebuild

(36) Ads seen as vital bushfire reminder

(37) Premier to meet Western Power's insurers

(38) Barnett cool on Toodyay legal fees

(39) Bushfire under control

(40) Firefighter tackles perv fleeing bank