WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 020111

We lead off wildfire news today with a correction from yesterday's edition about an item from TangentLink regarding a conference in Kuala Lumpur later this year that stated it was an aerial firefighting conference when in fact it is an aerial EMS conference. Elsewhere in the news, Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dr. Max Moritz, a fire scientist at UC Berkeley, conducted a wildfire seminar at UC Santa Barbara (1); and USDA Undersecretary Harris Sherman will join Nobel laureate Al Gore at a seminar in Aspen, Colorado, later this month to discuss how climate change is impacting forests in the western US (2). Texas' Rio Grande Valley has received a Red Flag warning as dry conditions combine with wind in that region today (3). Firefighters reported over 100 wildfires throughout the state of South Carolina last weekend (4); this coming at a time when projected budget cuts could reduce firefighters' responsiveness to blazes (5). The Georgia Forestry Commission has presented a Community Wildfire Protection Plan to officials in Stephens County (6). A wildfire was reported in Pasco County, Florida, yesterday (7); but despite wildfire concerns elsewhere in that state, Volusia County has reported that at least their aquifer is up! (8) The eruption of Shinmoedake volcano on Japan's southern island of Kyushu sparked a number of forest fires (9). Four states in northeastern India face increased wildfire danger because of jhumming fires set as part of the region's slash-and-burn agricultural tradition (10); and several huts were destroyed by a wildfire which broke out in Jammu & Kashmir (11). Indonesia is putting new forest fire restrictions into place in the province of Riau after pressure from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reduce haze from wildfire smoke throughout Singapore and Malaysia (12). Heading to Australia, two homes were destroyed by a fast-moving bushfire that destroyed thousands of acres in East Gippsland, Victoria, yesterday (13); however, people anxious to read the Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce's report will have to wait a little longer due to a government delay in releasing it to the public (14). Despite the fact that bushfire safer places were recommended by the Royal Bushfire Commission for 52 high-risk areas in Victoria, a number of those areas still have none (15); while air-tankers saw some action over inaccessible parts of Victoria and New South Wales (16). Rural Fire Service firefighters battled a bushfire sparked by a head-on collision in New South Wales (17); a situation made all the more dangerous due to the extreme heat in that state (18); and certainly not helped by a prolific firebug operating outside of Kurri Kurri (19); nor by a politician who is complaining that fire authorities concerned about the bushfire danger are stifling real estate development in Port Stephens (20). Mayors across South Australia are urging homeowners to clean up vegetation around their homes to reduce the bushfire danger (21). And finally, firefighters in the UK have a message for Chinese New Year celebrants: just back away from the sky lanterns and nobody will get hurt!

(1) Wildfire Expert Speaks

(2) Al Gore to Headline Seminar on Climate Change and the West

(3) Wildfire potential prompts red flag warning across RGV

(4) 114 wildfires reported over weekend in SC

(5) Forestry officials: Budget cuts could hinder fire response

(6) Stephens County wildfire protection plan approved pending minor revisions

(7) Controlled burn becomes wildfire in east Pasco

(8) Fire fears lessen in Volusia County

(9) Japan volcano eruption heard four miles away

(10) Mizoram rings fire alarm

(11) Four buildings gutted in fire in J&K

(12) Riau to Receive Aid For Fire Prevention

(13) Homes lost in East Gippsland bushfire

(14) Powerline report blocked

(15) Still no safer places to escape bushfires in Colac Otway Shire

(16) Aerial bombers tackle outbreaks

(17) Man dies in crash that sparks bushfire

(18) NSW hits 42 degrees Celsius

(19) Coalfields firebug hunt after 30 attacks in two months

(20) Bushfire measures stifling Port Stephens development: McKenzie

(21) Council gets tough on fire clean up

(22) Firefighters called 100 times to deal with burning Chinese lanterns