WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 121211

Our first article takes a look at NASA's Wildfire Research and Applications Partnership, which uses new technology to help with wildfires (1). With the arrival of rain and snow in the Angeles National Forest, US Forest Service is closing some roads in areas damaged by the Station Fire (2); but the California Public Utilities Commission is considering a request by power utilities to invoke Wildfire Expense Balancing Accounts to help with payment of claims that exceed their insurance capacity (3). New Mexico's Gila National Forest will conduct controlled burns on 126 acres in a few days (4); and although it's hard to imagine fighting wildfires with the approach of winter, the Idaho Falls District of the Bureau of Land Management is hiring wildland firefighters for the 2012 fire season (5). Firefighters now believe that the worst wildfire in East Texas history, which burned in the counties of Montgomery, Waller and Grimes, was caused by a lightning strike 10 days before that destructive blaze broke out (6); even as FEMA extended the deadline to apply for wildfire disaster funds in Marion and Cass counties, where $1 million has already been expended (7). South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest Supervisor did some Q and A on the importance of thinning trees to reduce wildfire damage (8); while firefighters in Okahumpka, Florida, received training on dealing with wildfires, including deploying personal shelters (9). A Canadian government-sponsored program will help replant forests around Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, destroyed by wildfires (10); and on the one-year anniversary of Israel's Carmel Forest fire, Kibbutz Beit Oren is taking steps to better prepare for future wildfires (11). The next article takes a look at the problem of dry season bushfires in the African nation of Ghana (12); where the Yendi Satellite Centre has undertaken a public education program on the dangers bushfires pose to the economy (13). New Zealand's Kaingaroa Forest was the scene of a flurry of arrests of people who posed a bushfire risk to the area (14). Heading to Australia, Victoria's bushfire arson prevention program, called Operation Firesetter, has reached the town of Casey (15); even as Country Fire Authority has issued a list of towns that are at high risk from bushfires this summer (16); while also warning of a Christmas fire hazard in the Yarra Ranges (17); and Melbourne's Metropolitan Fire Brigade indicated that homes on the outskirts of Brimbank have an elevated bushfire risk this year (18); all of which prompted VicRoads to continue mowing down grass to reduce the bushfire threat across the state (19). A report from Queensland's School for Field Studies Center for Rainforest Studies shows that lantana, Australia's most prevalent weed, fuels bushfires in dry rainforests (20). A bushfire was reported in the Shire of Yalgoo, Western Australia (21); where the former federal police commissioner indicated that the practice of prescribed burns would not be examined by a new bushfire inquiry, something residents of Margaret River, which was just ravaged by a runaway prescribed burn, were not happy to hear (22). And finally, we have a cautionary tale from Chicago, where firefighters returned from a false alarm to find burglars in their fire station!

(1) How NASA Is Using Aircraft to Fight Fire With Data

(2) Snow forecast prompts road closures in Angeles National Forest

(3) Winds Whip Risks

(4) Prescribed Fire Planned on Black Range Ranger District

(5) Accepting Applications for Summer Firefighting Jobs

(6) Report: lightning likely sparked worst wildfire in East Texas history

(7) Assistance continues for wildfire victims

(8) LIVE CHAT: Research shows thinning works

(9) Extinguishing fire

(10) Forests being replanted around Prince Albert

(11) Kibbutz Recovers from Killer Forest Fires by Going Green

(12) Avoiding Bush Fires in the Dry Season [Analysis]

(13) NGO step-up bush fire education campaign at Yendi

(14) Police arrest 20 in Kaingaroa Forest operation

(15) Casey on firebug alert as bushfire season arrives

(16) Fire warning: Wodonga on high risk list

(17) Christmas fire hazard

(18) Suburban homes in Brimbank at bushfire risk

(19) Slashing to ease bushfire threat

(20) Lantana fuels rainforest fires

(21) Bushfire warning for Yalgoo station

(22) Bushfire inquiry head Keelty meets residents

(23) Firefighters called for false alarm return to find burglars in firehouse