WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 102510

Wildfire News of the Day subscriber Bettina Boxall of the Los Angeles Times examines the carbon storage benefits of America's forests as revealed in a new US Forest Service report (1); but following a major blaze in the area, Ashland, Oregon, authorities are considering trading in their flammable roof material for fire-resistant roofs over the next 10 years (2). The next article takes a look at wildfires in Idaho's Boise National Forest in 2010 (3); while a volunteer firefighter with Bellmore Fire Department in Indiana has admitted to setting at least four arson wildfires (4); and a three-acre wildfire burned in Illinois' Cook County Forest Preserve on Sunday (5). Firefighters in Clermont County, Ohio, had a number of wildfires to deal with over the weekend (6). The South continues to burn: firefighters in Arkansas battled a wildfire near Corning which had burned close to 40 acres by Saturday night (7); and a 200-acre blaze in Grant County forced the evacuation of nearby homes (8); while firefighters in Kentucky had to deal with several fires, including one on the grounds of Fort Knox (9); believed to been started by tracer ammo (10); even as firefighters closed some popular hiking trails in Daniel Boone National Forest due to nearby wildfires (11). Firefighters battling a grass fire in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, got some relief from providential rains (12); but firefighters in Alabama continued to worry about the wildfire season after having battled 1,000 blazes in a period when, last year, there were only six! (13) A wildfire was reported in Virginia's George Washington National Forest over the weekend (14); and a wildfire in the Florida Panhandle briefly closed Interstate 10 as it passed over Escambia Bay (15); while the next article provides another warning about Florida's high-risk wildfire season this winter (16). Firefighters in Cocentaina, Spain, had a bit of a scare when a forest fire trapped dozens of scouts in a church (17); and an article from Israel provides an in-depth look at wildfires that burned there this year, one of the hottest on record (18). The next article takes a look at the thorny issue of Indonesia's rampant, deliberately-set wildfires (19). Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is revealing the results of extensive tests of automated wildfire-detection camera systems in Victoria (20); followed by a look at what changes the Victorian government has made in the aftermath of the Royal Bushfire Commission's Black Saturday report (21). Country Fire Authority will be conducting some 200 meetings across southwest Victoria over the next three months to educate people on bushfire preparedness (22); and the first in a series of controlled burns which will treat hundreds of thousands of acres of fuel across that state this year have begun (23); even as it bolsters its bushfire forces with the addition of an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter and 123 more firefighters (24). Firefighters in South Australia's Eyre Peninsula are preparing for the inevitable bushfires of summer (25). And finally, firefighters in Staffordshire, UK, were a bit skeptical when they received a call to help get a pet out of tree, only to find out that it wasn't a cat - it was a dog!

(1) Nation's forests help offset greenhouse gas emissions

(2) Ashland to consider shift to safer roofs

(3) 2010 was a good year to confine and contain wildfires

(4) Valley firefighter arrested on arson charges

(5) Brush Fire Near Tinley Park High School Extinguished

(6) Brush Fires Keep Clermont Co. Firefighters Busy

(7) Forest fire threatens homes near Highway 67

(8) Wildfire burns 200 acres

(9) Wildfires now blazing in West Point, Ky., possibly sparked by fires burning at Ft. Knox

(10) Rain may help snuff Fort Knox wildfires

(11) Forest fires force closure of popular section of Red River Gorge

(12) Rain Helps Firefighters Put Out Wildfires in Lauderdale County, Tennessee

(13) Wildfires Posing a Danger in Alabama

(14) Forest Fire in George Washington National Forest

(15) Interstate 10 bridge reopens

(16) Expected dry winter means higher risk for wildfires

(17) Scouts trapped in church during forest fire

(18) Learning more from Israel's forest fires

(19) The Thinker: Where There’s Smoke

(20) Bushfire camera trial results revealed

(21) Government acting on Black Saturday report

(22) CFA urges residents to register for community meetings

(23) Burns underway in Hepburn

(24) Regional firefighter numbers boost for hot season

(25) Prepare and beware

(26) Firefighters rescue dog stuck up tree