WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 091911

A 634-acre wildfire burning outside of the Southern California community of Agua Dulce was completely contained Sunday night (1); while firefighters quickly snuffed a small wildfire burning in Santa Rosa's Annadale State Park (2). A heads up from Oregon's Douglas Forest Protective Association allowed firefighters to quickly corral a 25-acre wildfire yesterday (3). A 1,280-acre wildfire in Washington state's Olympic National Forest has expanded by only 50 acres recently (4); and although that state ranks as one of the most-prepared for wildfires, officials warned residents that there was still much work to be done (5). Arson investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a wildfire that threatened homes in the Nevada community of Topaz Ranch Estates earlier this month (6). Two men accused of accidentally starting the 538,000-acre Wallow Fire in Arizona's Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest will appear in court today (7); the next item providing a video segment discussing the difficult process of reforestation of the burn area (8); followed by another which questions whether reintroducing logging and cattle grazing into the national forests could help reduce the fire danger in that state (9). A summary of wildfire activity in Texas is provided by the next item (10); where rains and cooler temperatures have helped bring the 34,000-acre Bastrop County wildfire up to 95% containment (11); but the Texas Forest Service estimates it will take at least another 12 inches of rain to ease the drought (and wildfire danger) in East Texas (12); while an Op-Ed piece discusses the impact of ground clutter on the Bastrop County wildfire (13); property owners having seen their land lose half its value after being ravaged by wildfires (14); while a musical benefit for wildfire survivors raised $30,852 (15); and despite the danger, some families who were burned out by the wildfires in Bastrop County plan to rebuild (16). Fire officials reopened some portions of Montana's Bitterroot National Forest to hunters (17); even as firefighters continued to mop up the 11,500-acre 41 Complex wildfire, the cost of suppression being pegged at $5 million (18). Firefighters have brought containment of the 147-square-mile wildfire burning in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness up to 19% with a little help from some rain (19); a first-person account of what it was like behind the fire lines being provided by the next article (20); followed by one about the impact of that massive blaze on the local economy (21); and the University of Minnesota's Center for Forest Ecology feels that the forest will change substantially in the wake of the fire (22). A 15-acre wildfire that burned outside of Powell Township, Michigan, is nearly contained (23). Canadian air-tankers were called to the US border near Osoyoos, British Columbia, to help corral a 30-hectare wildfire that threatened to burn into Canada (24); this being some of the only action seen by air-tankers in that province in a year in which only 61 sorties were flown, versus the annual average of 554 (25); but despite the slow fire season, residents of BC were told not to let down their guard (26); as firefighters contained grass fires which sprang up over the weekend (27); the next article looking at Ontario's Bushplane Days event, put on by Sault Ste. Marie's Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre (28). Restoration work in Berkshire, UK's, wildfire-ravaged Swinley Forest could run through March of next year (29); while fire officials have applied for a £404,640 grant to pay for expenses associated with that wildfire (30). In Southern Europe, wildfires were reported in Spain, Portugal, Greece, and Turkey (31); Spanish firefighters evacuating 1,200 people from homes threatened by a wildfire on the Balearic Island of Ibiza (32); and Russian firefighters extinguishing the last of 16 wildfires burning in Siberia (33). The Lebanese army reported on several wildfires across that Middle Eastern nation (34); while firefighters from the Regional Fire and Emergency Services Department Joint Region Marianas Guam were honored for their efforts at fire protection, which included battling 23 wildfires on that Pacific island (35). Heading to Australia, botanists are intrigued by the amount of rare plant growth appearing in Victoria's bushfire-ravaged Kinglake National Park (36). Bushfires in Queensland have kept firefighters busy over the past few days (37); and Queensland Fire and Rescue Service officials fear that the conditions which have fueled these wildfires will not let up until Thursday of this week (38); while New South Wales' Rural Fire Service firefighters managed to keep a bushfire away from homes in Olympian Parade in Leura (39); even as the fire danger continued to rise in parts of that state (40). The Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre indicated that 75% of South Australia is at increased risk from bushfires due to abundant fuel (41); where the Department of Environment and Conservation plans to conduct 16 controlled burns to prepare for bushfire season (42); but arson investigators determined that a bushfire which seriously injured several ultramarathon runners in Kimberley was not deliberately set (43). And finally, as Idaho's Priest River Research Center nears its 100th anniversary, the next article looks back on US Forest Service researcher Harry Gisborn's contributions to wildfire prediction models.

(1) 634-acre LA County wildfire surrounded

(2) Annadel grass fire extinguished above Bennett Valley

(3) Fire burns along freeway near Myrtle Creek

(4) Brothers fire in Olympic National Forest slows to a crawl

(5) Washington pushes homeowners to prepare for fires

(6) Holbrook fire cause undetermined

(7) Cousins charged in Arizona's Wallow Fire to appear in court

(8) Reforesting the Wallow Fire Area a Lengthy Process

(9) Wildfire cure: bring back logging and cattle grazing?

(10) Texas Wildfire Update - Sept. 19, 2011

(11) Rain Helps Containment Of Bastrop County Fire

(12) A lot more rain will be needed to end East Texas drought

(13) Years of branches, needles fueled Bastrop fire

(14) Fire-Ravaged Land in Texas May Have Lost Half of Its Value, According to Lewis Realty Advisors

(15) Music fans at ACL give to wildfire victims

(16) Even With Wildfire Risk, Some Residents Plan to Rebuild

(17) Bitterroot National Forest reopens some areas closed by fires

(18) 41 Complex fire cost nears $5 million

(19) Rain helps crews gain ground on BWCA fire

(20) Inside the BWCA Fire: A First-Person Account

(21) BWCA fire boosts Ely-area economy

(22) After the fire, a forest of a different kind

(23) UPDATE: Wildfire mostly contained

(24) U-S wildfire spreads over border near Osoyoos

(25) Wildfire airtankers leave B.C.

(26) Weekend fires speak to continued threat

(27) Grass fires now contained

(28) Water Bomber Ignites Bushplane Days

(29) Swinley Forest clear-up work starts after May fire

(30) Fire service asks for £400,000 grant after Swinley fire

(31) EFFIS - Current Situation

(32) Forest fire on Spain's Ibiza forces evacuations

(33) Firefighters put out all forest fires in Siberia

(34) 78 acres of forest trees damaged by fires in north, south Lebanon

(35) Kudos to federal firefighting department

(36) Huge Australian bushfires ignited rare plant growth

(37) Crews battle multiple bushfires

(38) Extra bushfire risk for Queensland

(39) Bushfire threat eases in Blue Mountains

(40) Hunter bushfire risk warning

(41) State faces high bushfire danger

(42) Perth better prepared for bushfire season

(43) Kimberley ultramarathon fire that burned runners not arson

(44) Mont. man shaped wildfire behavior research