WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 061011

A photo spread covers the wildland firefighter training conducted at Southern California's Camp Pendleton Marine base (1); but as US Forest Service considers changing the rules of fire retardant use, firefighters battling future blazes in Washington state's Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, which sees considerable usage of the chemicals, could be impacted (2). Nevada is dispatching firefighters to help battle Arizona's wildfires (3); while President Obama called Arizona's governor to express his concern for the wildfires in that state (4). Although the 386,000-acre Wallow Fire has destroyed several dozen homes and structures in Eastern Arizona, firefighters point to the thousands of homes that have been spared by their efforts (5); followed by a video segment from CBS News that chronicles the seemingly losing battle firefighters are fighting (6); but as winds died down, firefighters began to make some progress (7); while Arizona's other major wildfire, the Horseshoe Two Fire, has expanded its domain to 128,000 acres to the south (8). As human evacuees stream out of areas threatened by Arizona's wildfires, their pets are also finding evacuation shelters (9); but Mexican Gray wolves that have been reintroduced to the state have to fend for themselves (10). Law enforcement personnel are patrolling Arizona's Coronado National Forest, which has been closed to visitors due to the wildfire danger (11); while an article from Discovery takes a look at how much CO2 is being pumped into the atmosphere by wildfires in Arizona (12); followed by a Christian Science Monitor article that asks whether Arizona's massive wildfires could be a harbinger of things to come due to climate change (13); fueling the debate over who is to blame for Arizona's current wildfire siege: environmentalists or overzealous firefighters? (14) Despite the urgent need for more firefighters in Arizona, units in Carlsbad, New Mexico, are staying put due to red flag conditions in their operational area, the fire danger underscored by a 15,000-acre blaze burning near Hobbs (15); even as the New Mexico National Guard prepares to receive Arizona's Wallow Fire when it crosses the border (16). Calmer winds and higher humidity are helping firefighters battling a 50-acre blaze in Teller County, Colorado (17); as well as wildfires burning in southeast Colorado, the blazes summarized by the following article (18). A list of wildfires burning in the Lone Star State is provided by the Texas Forest Service (19); where three firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion after helping battle the massive 14,000-acre wildfire burning in Sterling County (20); but a volunteer firefighter died battling a blaze behind his place in East Texas (21). Wildfires in Alabama are the topic of the next item (22); and Augusta, Georgia, experienced very smoky conditions due to the wildfire burning in Okefenokee Swamp (23). Although the White Eagle wildfire burning in Flagler County, Florida, is 80% contained after burning 120 acres, renewed activity forced officials to evacuate some nearby homes (24); a 180-acre wildfire is burning in Bonita Springs (25); even as more than 100 wildfires burned in St. John's and Baker Counties, smoky skies being the order of the day (26); while firefighters from the Northeast Florida Incident Management Team lit prescribed burns to keep wildfires away from Palm Coast homes yesterday (27); and a video segment from NBC News chronicles the 50,000-acre wildfire burning in Miami-Dade County which is now 50% contained (28); followed by an Op-Ed piece that discusses the need for the governor to declare an emergency in areas hard-hit by wildfires in order to free up funding to pay the bills (29). Rain helped hundreds of firefighters battling wildfires in Alaska's interior (30). According to Prince George Fire Centre in British Columbia, Canada, humans are to blame for half of the 34 wildfires that have occurred in their region (31); while both the Martin Mars and one of Ten Tanker LLC's DC-10s are working the mammoth 415,000-ha wildfire burning outside of Fort McMurray, Alberta (32); two new wildfires being reported in Ontario, as 350 personnel remain in Alberta fighting wildfires there (33). With the launch of the 4th Argentinian Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas, Canada's Earth Observation Program will now be able to get a closer look at wildfires via its low earth orbit satellites (34); but a combination of awareness drives and abundant rainfall are being credited with a reduced wildfire season in India's Himachal Pradesh (35). Victoria's Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce has concluded a series of public meetings discussing what to do with power lines that have sparked bushfires in that Australian state (36); but a tussle over timber has brewed up concerning a contractor hired by VicForests to do salvage logging of forests burned by the Black Saturday bushfires (37). In an effort to better provide timely emergency warnings about bushfires to the public, South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission has conducted a survey of homeowners in the Adelaide Hills region (38). And finally, firefighters in Scotland had a tricky extrication operation: getting a pitchfork out of a farmers head!

(1) Camp Pendleton Hosts Wild Land Fire Training

(2) Fire retardant heavily used on Washington forest

(3) Nevada firefighting resources sent to help battle massive Arizona wildfire

(4) Obama calls Ariz. governor over massive wildfires

(5) Wallow Fire: Firefighter efforts paying off as many homes saved

(6) Firefighters losing against Arizona blaze

(7) Break in windy weather to help crews at Ariz. fire

(8) Horseshoe Two wildfire grows to 128K acres

(9) Pet Resort Housing Animals From Wildfire Evacuees

(10) Arizona Wildfires Threaten Missouri-raised Mexican Gray Wolves

(11) Extra officers now enforcing forest closures

(12) Wildfire Smoke and Gas Drift Across America

(13) Monster wildfire in Arizona: A glimpse of what climate change could bring

(14) Huge Arizona wildfire rekindles forest debate

(15) Local conditions keeping firefighters at home

(16) Wallow Wildfire Update: New Mexico National Guard Activated

(17) Residents remain evacuated near Cripple Creek but crews make progress on 50-acre blaze

(18) Other fires flare up as some nearly out

(19) Texas Forest Service: Fire In Coke County Has Now Consumed 13,000 Acres

(20) Dos Amigos Fire burns 14,000 acres, crosses into Sterling County

(21) East Texas firefighter found dead amid blaze

(22) Two large wildfires continue to burn in Alabama

(23) Smoke from wildfires is seen in area

(24) Officials prepared to order evacuations as Flagler fires intensify

(25) Firefighters continue battling 180-acre brush fire east of Bonita Springs

(26) Smoky Skies: More than 100 Wildfires around St. Johns, Baker Counties

(27) Firefighters use prescribed burn to protect Palm Coast homes

(28) Firefighters Secure Homes as Brush Fire Grows

(29) Firefighter Hero-Worship and Floridians’ Hypocrisy: When Public Employees Save Lives

(30) Rain moderates Interior Alaska fires

(31) Humans to Blame for Half of New Fires in P.G. Fire Centre

(32) Firefighters concentrate on Richardson fire

(33) Two new forest fires reported in the region

(34) Canadian Microbolometer Sensor: Focusing on Oceans, Fires and Volcanoes

(35) Rains keep forest fires away in Himachal

(36) Bushfire taskforce hears safety ideas

(37) VicForests investigates timber claim

(38) HAVE YOUR SAY: Hills residents quizzed on emergency warning system

(39) Clydebank firefighters cut pitchfork from man's head