WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 051411

As the weather warms up, the Carbon Canyon Fire Safe Council demonstrated the benefits of Thermo-Gel at their Wildfire Awareness Fair held in Orange County, California (1); while US Forest Service firefighters indicated that a wildfire burning in San Bernardino National Forest is now 80% contained after burning about 150 acres (2); and firefighters credited defensible space around homes for sparing them from a fire in Soledad (3). The impact of a wildfire in Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains on birdwatching tours is the topic of the next item (4); but efforts to ban fireworks year-round in Gila County due to the fire danger is the focus of the next article (5). An 11 1/2-acre wildfire was quickly snuffed outside of Silver city, New Mexico, yesterday (6); while a 380-acre controlled burn is planned in Utah's Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (7). Rough terrain is making it difficult for Texas Forest Service personnel battling two blazes which, between them, have burned over 150,000 acres (8); but firefighters declared 95% containment on a 6,000-acre wildfire burning near Alpine (9); however, the accidental wildfire sparked by federal bomb disposal exercises in Motley County has added fuel to the fire in the already-tense situation between the federal government and Texas over wildfire funds (10). Air-tankers and firefighters on the ground continued to grapple with a wildfire that is now 50% contained in North Carolina's Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (11); even as the Georgia Forestry Commission is concerned that a lack of rain will lead to an abundance of wildfires in the southern part of the state (12); and air-tankers were called in to help with a wildfire burning in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp which has burned over 100,000 acres so far (13). Firefighters in Volusia County, Florida, reported over 150 lightning strikes which sparked a number of wildfires across the region (14). Heat combined with windy conditions has prompted several counties in Canada's northern Alberta province to impose a fire ban (15); which was probably a good precaution, since over two dozen wildfires have already been reported in that province (16). As the Lebanese Army and Civil Defense teams drill for wildfire season, the next article provides an in-depth look at wildfires in that Middle Eastern country (17); while an article, from Australia, looks at the plight of Black Saturday bushfire survivors who are still living in cabins two years later (18). And finally, we have a story about how Hi-Tech Emergency Vehicle Service rose from the ashes of Van Pelt Fire Apparatus to provide world-class firefighting apparatus to fire departments around the US!

(1) Weather is mild, but wildfires await

(2) Mountain Fire 80% Contained: USFS

(3) Defensible space helped firefighters fight Metz Fire easier

(4) Horseshoe 2 Fire is hurting several small businesses

(5) Fireworks make Rim fire chiefs nervous

(6) Wildfire near Silver City, New Mexico is fully contained, officials say

(7) Burn planned for Bartholomew Canyon

(8) Crews Battle Rough Terrain In Marathon Fires

(9) Gage Holland Fire 95 Percent Contained

(10) Texas county official says "stupid" feds sparked fire

(11) Pains Bay fire now 50 percent contained

(12) Less rain could mean more wildfires

(13) Aircraft now dumping water on Okefenokee Swamp wildfire

(14) 160 lightning strikes ignite wildfires across Volusia

(15) Heat and high winds lead to fire bans in several Alberta counties

(16) Firefighters battle spate of wildfires across the province

(17) Forest fires in 2011 expected to exceed last year’s devastation

(18) Long winter ahead for Black Saturday bushfire victims still awaiting homes

(19) Workers keep flame lit; Oakdale company builds firefighting trucks