WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 120610

The Oregon Department of Forestry plans increased wildfire mitigation efforts in Jackson and Josephine counties in an era of climate change (1); and the US Forest Service will begin controlled burns in Arizona's Tonto National Forest next week as well (2). Excessive grass growth which resulted from three tropical storms earlier this year in South Texas has fire officials worried about a dry winter leading to many more wildfires (3); while volunteer firefighters in New Jersey were grappling with zoning issues in providing fire protection for a 576-acre preserve (4). An AT-802 SEAT was captured on video as it performed in Savannah, Georgia, at the 44th National Agricultural Aviation Association convention (5); but they probably could have used it a bit further south, where wildfires kept firefighters busy in Clay, Florida, over the weekend (6). More details in an article published in Nature Geoscience yesterday highlight the danger that climate change is causing in wildfire ferocity worldwide (7). NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite provides a graphic image of wildfire smoke from Israel drifting out across the Mediterranean Sea (8); where firefighters and aircraft from the U.S., U.K., Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Turkey, France, Russia, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Jordan, helped the Israelis to finally bring their 10,000-acre wildfire to heel, but only after it did an estimated $272 million in damage (9). The next article provides a tally of the firefighting aircraft dispatched by Russia to help the Israelis (10); whose crews returned home to a hero's welcome (11). A press release reveals details on how the U.S. Agency for International Development's Disaster Assistance Response Team helped the Israelis with their wildfire disaster (12); and among those responding to Israel's call for help, Wyoming Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing brought its MAFFS-equipped C-130 air-tankers to the party (13). The 747 Supertanker joined more than 30 other aircraft over Israel battling that country's worst wildfire in recorded history (14); the next article providing a look at the financial cost air-tanker operations incurred (15). A teenager has admitted to sparking the wildfire with some coal from a hookah (16); while the human toll of the fire is examined in the next two articles (17)(18). Professors from Haifa University's Evolutionary and Environmental Biology Department discussed how nature will repair the damage done by the wildfires (19); but the Israeli government is not waiting for nature to heal all the damage (20). Israel was not the only Middle Eastern country being ravaged by forest fires: their northern neighbor, Lebanon, reported 120 over the weekend (21); prompting a top-level government meeting to discuss future wildland firefighting issues (22). Bushfires in the African nation of Ghana have destroyed several power poles in the Wa East District (23); while nearly 2 dozen people lost their lives in a wildfire on China's Tibetan plateau, as a string of winter wildfires have ravaged the south (24). A bushfire was reported on New Zealand's North Island near the Raurimu Spiral (25); six hundred Australian First Responders participated in a bushfire communications exercise in Victoria, the largest such a drill in that state's history (26); and Country Fire Authority is continuing to spread bushfire warnings to residents of Victoria through their Fire Ready Victoria program (27). The Tasmania Fire Service is about to change the definition of "bushfire prone areas", something which could lead to 99% of the island being included (28); but fearing a ferocious bushfire season, Western Australia's Fire and Emergency Services Authority have added two Type-I helicopters from the US to their air-tanker inventory this season (29). And finally, a 1920s-era fire lookout tower is getting a new lease on life in New York State's Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park!

(1) Changing climate is factor for fire plans

(2) Prescribed fires planned near Roosevelt Lake

(3) Wildfires will have plenty of fuel after tropical storms

(4) Apshawa fence frightens West Milford fire fighters, compels zoning examination

(5) Fire Boss 802F Flyby At NAAA Convention

(6) Firefighters deal with two weekend blazes in Clay

(7) 'Global warming' causing fires

(8) Photo: Deadly Forest Fire in Northern Israel As Seen From Orbit

(9) Israeli Firefighters, Aircraft Bring Forest Blaze Under Control

(10) Beriyev Be-200 departs for Israel to help put out forest fires

(11) Russian firefighters demonstrate their professionalism

(12) U.S. Fire Suppression Experts and Supplies Arrive in Israel

(13) Wyoming Air National Guard called to fight fires in Israel

(14) US supertanker set to join battle against Israel blaze

(15) 2011 aerial firefighting budget: NIS 3.5m

(16) 14-year-old from Carmel region admits to accidentally starting massive wildfire

(17) Israel's top policewoman dies of burns

(18) Carmel residents return to see aftermath of wildfire

(19) Haifa U. experts: Nature will restore wildlife

(20) Four committees tapped to help fire victims, Carmel Forest rehabilitation

(21) Lebanese Army, Civil Defense contain most forest fires raging across country

(22) Hariri Heads Meeting on Managing Forest Fires

(23) Bushfires destroy high tension poles in Wa East District

(24) 22 killed in China wildfire

(25) Firefighters battle blaze near park

(26) Vic bushfire exercise tests communication

(27) CFA warns of fire threat

(28) Nearly all of Tasmania to be declared 'bushfire prone'

(29) Water bomber boost for bushfire fleet

(30) Historic 1924 fire tower, now repaired, will be re-assembled in Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park