WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 072611

A wildfire that burned south of the Southern California community of Corona in Riverside County yesterday has been contained (1); while firefighters brought containment on a 12,700-acre wildfire burning on San Diego County's Los Coyotes Indian Reservation to 45% Monday night (2); helped along by an aerial assault by nearly 3 dozen air-tankers (3); and a contingent of firefighters from San Bernardino County (4); but as six firefighters suffered minor injuries, it was determined that Bighorn sheep living in nearby Anza Borrego Desert State Park are in no danger (5). In a rare legal setback for environmentalists, San Francisco's Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected an injunction they tried to file to stop logging efforts clearing out excess vegetation around Lake Tahoe (6); but rugged terrain hampered firefighting efforts on an 80-acre wildfire burning in Calaveras County, California (7); and the Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch Center reported another 80-acre wildfire burning north of Markleeville (8). A 3,000-acre wildfire destroyed structures in Almira, Washington (9); while firefighters in Reno, Nevada, warned of the high potential for a devastating wildfire in that area today (10). Demolition training on a Red Flag day has been cited as the cause of a 601-acre wildfire that burned on Arizona's Camp Navajo in June (11). Firefighters in New Mexico were making progress on three lightning-sparked wildfires burning in the Guadalupe Mountains (12); while recent wildfire activity in Boulder County, Colorado, has spurred mountain town leadership to formulate wildfire emergency plans (13). A collection of state and federal agencies is providing funds to residents of Texas hard hit by recent wildfires (14); and a team of ecologists has determined that climate change will increase the frequency of wildfires in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which encompasses Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, by 2050 (15); but in the near term, a lightning-sparked wildfire burning in Wyoming's Washakie Wilderness Area is being allowed to spread for ecological purposes (16). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Chuck Bushey, President of the International Association of Wildland Fire, sent along an invitation from wildfire NOTD subscriber Kevin Ryan, a Research Forest Ecologist at USFS Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, Montana, asking for input on developing a Cohesive Strategy to guide fuels and fire management in the United States (17); followed by the third installment of my Wildfire Simulation Technology series, in which Mark Finney, a Research Forester and modeling expert at Missoula Fire Labs, discussed wildfire modeling (18). Kentucky Division of Forestry has dispatched an 11-person crew to help battle a 30,000-acre wildfire burning in North Carolina (19); and a small wildfire was reported in Westminster, Massachusetts, yesterday (20). Virginia Department of Forestry firefighters hope to have a 13-acre wildfire burning on Tinker Mountain fully contained today after rainfall overnight (21); while South Carolina Forestry Service issued a Red Flag warning for the entire state as the Hornet Fire, which has burned 1,374 acres in Horry County, reached 70% containment (22). Georgia Forestry Commission reported a 500-acre wildfire that was threatening a mobile home park near Hinesville (23); and firefighters contained a 10-acre wildfire near Daytona Beach, Florida, Monday afternoon (24). The devastation caused by wildfires in Canada this year is the topic of the next article (25); where rainfall has helped reduce the wildfire threat in parts of northern Ontario, but 114 wildfires were still burning (26); and although 153 residents of Northern Ontario are being allowed to return home, 3,438 are still waiting for the smoke to clear so they too can return home (27); the following article providing some striking images from NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite that show wildfire activity in the Northwest Territories on Saturday (28). Wildfire activity in the Mediterranean Basin included blazes in Morocco and Portugal, as well as numerous fires in Albania (29). A slideshow demonstrates the importance of aerial firefighting in Russia, where it is estimated that 43% of the wildfires are detected by aircraft and 37% snuffed from the air (30); where villagers were evacuated from a village in the Volgograd region as a wildfire approached (31); this at a time when a comprehensive look at wildfires in Central Siberia has been completed by researchers from Russia, Finland, and Panama (32). Heading to Australia, the government of Victoria is providing $5 million to help improve conditions in bushfire-prone communities (33); as a bushfire was reported near Kalbar, Queensland, on Monday (34); firefighters lighting a few of their own around Brisbane (35). And finally, LAFD firefighters have begun an epic 3,308 mile bicycle trip across country to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11!

(1) Blaze threatens homes

(2) Terrain hampers efforts to fight Calif. wildfire

(3) California wildfire battle intensifies in air, ground

(4) San Bernardino County Firefighters Headed South to San Diego to Fight Eagle Fire

(5) Eagle Fire is 45% contained; not a threat to wild sheep

(6) 9th Circuit clears USFS logging at Lake Tahoe

(7) Calaveras wildfire burns 80 acres

(8) Wildfire north of Markleeville holding at 80 acres

(9) Wildfire Burns Three Mile Stretch; Damages Home

(10) Conditions Fuel Potential for Wildfires

(11) Bad call led to wildfire at base

(12) Firefighters get upper hand against 3 fires burning in southeastern New Mexico

(13) Boulder area leaders working on emergency plans following wildfires

(14) FEMA: Grants, Loans and Technical Assistance Among Aid Available for Texas Wildfires

(15) Climate-change-induced wildfires may alter Yellowstone forests

(16) 3.4-square-mile wildfire growing in bug-killed wilderness area of northwest Wyoming

(17) FERA Fire Research News Update -- July 2011

(18) Wildfire Simulation Technology – Part 3

(19) Kentucky sends 11-person team to help fight long-burning forest fire in North Carolina

(20) Firefighters control blaze in Westminster woods

(21) Rain helps firefighters still battling Tinker Mountain blaze

(22) Forestry firefighters continue to battle Horry County Hornet Fire

(23) Hinesville Wildfire

(24) Firefighters scramble on 2 blazes

(25) 2011 shaping up to be the year of the forest fire

(26) Rain reduces threat of forest fire

(27) About 153 First Nations return home as crews battle forest fires in Ontario

(28) Lightning Triggers Fires In Northwest Territories Of Canada

(29) EFFIS - Current Situation

(30) Air patrol helps fight forest fires

(31) Rescuers evacuate village in Russia's south from approaching wildfire

(32) A Multi-Century History of Forest Fires in Central Siberia

(33) $5m to improve safety in bushfire-prone communities

(34) Firefighters contain bushfire

(35) Brisbane set to burn from 9am with pre-emptive strike on bushfire season

(36) L.A. firefighters on bike ride to N.Y. to observe 9-11