WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 102010

The Kern Chapter of the American Red Cross is winding down operations that have supported residents impacted by several wildfires that blazed through Kern County, California, earlier this year (1); while several agencies responded to a seven-acre wildfire that burned in San Jose's eastern foothills yesterday (2). A new study done by researchers at the University of Oregon shows that logging in the 1950s and 1960s was more destructive to forests in the Siskiyou Mountains than wildfires have been (3); but with temperatures on some days reaching 87°, Oregon's Douglas Fire Protection Association is warning residents that fire season has not ended just yet (4). Although a series of water bladders strategically located around Gila County, Arizona, is credited with improving the control of wildfires in the area (something like The Water Cache Project), thinning of vegetation still needs to be done (5); however, a letter to the editor of a northern Arizona newspaper rails at US Forest Service for allowing the Schultz Fire to devastate large areas of the Coconino National Forest this past summer (6). A 1,300-acre wildfire that has been burning in Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest is now 50% contained (7). A tiny wildfire was reported near, appropriately enough, Tiny Town, Colorado, yesterday (8); but a larger fire that burned in Grant County earlier this month cost $1.5 million to suppress (9). Several counties in Wisconsin will be under a high fire alert for the next few days (10); this at a time when a 7-acre wildfire destroyed a garage in Michigan's Missaukee County (11). The National Weather Service issued Red Flag warnings in an area not normally associated with wildfires: Cleveland, Ohio! (12) About 200 firefighters continued to battle a wildfire burning in Louisiana's Kisatchie National Forest (13). A Time Magazine article takes a closer look at the contentious issue of a Tennessee county's subscription wildfire protection plan (14); even as residents of that state are reminded of the outdoor burn ban that is still in effect (15). With 11 homes and 74 other structures destroyed so far this fire season, Alabama is facing its worst fall in recent years (16); but State Farm Insurance has unveiled a brand-new research facility, the Insurance Institute for Building and Home Safety, in South Carolina which will study natural disasters, including wildfires (17). In Florida, where some areas have been severely overgrown by vines, drought conditions have fire managers very worried (18). A wildfire was reported in Wasfi Tal Forest near Jerash, Jordan, yesterday (19); and a new batch of wildfires erupted in Russia's Far East (20). An Op-Ed piece from Ghana, Africa, discusses the impact of bushfires deliberately set in agricultural areas of the country (21). Government sources in Indonesia indicated that nearly 150 "hot spots" have been identified in the province of Riau (22); something which is not earning any points with Singapore's Minister for the Environment and Water Resources (23). Heading to Australia, although the volunteers in Victoria's Country Fire Authority just earned a $44.5 million windfall (24); union leadership has expressed fear that the State Emergency Services (SES) organization is on the verge of collapse due to a severe shortage of personnel (25); and the slow pace of bushfire bunker approval has some concerned that many will not be ready when the bushfires come (26). Country Fire Authority has unveiled a new $800,000 command-and-control center to help protect homeowners in Victoria's Dandenongs Mountains (27); but a new study being conducted in Victoria takes a look at the link between bushfires and domestic violence against women (28). Two water bombers were called in to help battle a blaze near Albany, Western Australia, that is burning in a blue gum and pine plantation (29); even as the Department of Environment Conservation conducts controlled burns and warns residents of that state to brace themselves for what could be a very bad bushfire season (30). There's a bit of a tussle over jurisdictional boundaries in New South Wales, not a good thing as bushfire season begins (31). And finally, a cautionary tale comes to us out of San Diego, California, where a "catastrophe chaser" has been filing false lawsuits against insurance companies for losses from wildfires in the region dating back to 2003!

(1) Red Cross wraps up operations at wildfires

(2) San Jose: Firefighters contain blaze in eastern foothills

(3) Old Logging Practices Linked To High Erosion Rates

(4) Fire season still in effect for this area

(5) Wildfire risk better than 2006, more needs to be done, says supervisor

(6) Forest Service guilty of Schultz fire 'crimes'

(7) Virgin Canyon wildfire 50% contained

(8) Wildfire contained near Tiny Town

(9) Church Park Fire bill exceeds $1.5 million

(10) We've gone from floods to fire danger

(11) Forest Fire Sparks in Missaukee County

(12) Outdoor fires could spread quickly today

(13) Fire still rages in Kisatchie National Forest

(14) Tennessee County Expands Its Subscription Firefighting Policy

(15) Open air burning banned

(16) Fall Wildfires Worst in Alabama in Recent Years

(17) Research Center Destroys Homes So Mother Nature Won't Destroy Yours

(18) Severe wildfire season expected; DeBary homeowners go Firewise

(19) CDD puts out forest fire

(20) Ten wildfires put out in Russia's Far East

(21) Comment: Savanna bushfires - the bane of underdevelopment in northern Ghana

(22) Forest Fire, 144 Hot Spots Affect Riau

(23) Disappointed over hotspots

(24) Firefighters get $44.5 mill boost

(25) SES is set to collapse without more staff: union

(26) Not so easy to bunker down

(27) New Ferntree Gully fire centre opens

(28) Bushfire women wanted for study

(29) Firefighters battle blaze at Many Peaks

(30) Potential for a horror bushfire year in the Shire of Busselton

(31) Union says firefighting is compromised by bureaucratic boundaries

(32) Suit: $7M in false claims from CA wildfires