WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 011411

First up today, Wildfire News of the Day subscriber Andrew Madsen, Public Affairs Officer for the Los Padres National Forest, discusses the US Forest Service's job fair which will be held tomorrow in San Marcos (1); but the California Professional Firefighters union is protesting incoming Gov. Brown's proposal to eliminate 800 seasonal firefighter jobs in order to save money (2); an article from the San Jose Mercury News providing more details on the impact on city/county fire departments (3). An 80,000-acre stretch of forest in Oregon's Applegate Valley will become a laboratory for forest management practices (4); however, budget constraints will eliminate a SEAT that has been used to protect Ruidoso, New Mexico (5). US Forest Service will be burning debris piles in Colorado's Roosevelt National Forest (6); while the White River National Forest Supervisor discusses the importance of controlled burns in a radio segment associated with the next item (7). Utah's Wildland Urban Interface Prevention Coordinator is working with local communities to make them safer from wildfires (8); and Montana's Madison Ranger District is soliciting advice about mechanical thinning in Meadow Creek (9). North Central Florida is bracing for a bad wildfire season (10); the reasons for this situation being discussed in the next article, which provides a primer on the climate affects of El Niño and La Niña worldwide (11). A resident of Western Siberia, Russia, was hit with a hefty fine for starting one of the many wildfires that ravaged that country last summer (12); while a video segment of the interview with an Israeli touches on the issue of the Mt. Carmel Forest Fire (13). Japan has ordered an AugustaWestland AW139 helicopter, which will be outfitted for fighting wildfires (14). One community in Victoria, Australia, has pitched in to help the local Country Fire Authority station stockpile tools needed after a bushfire (15); while a Black Saturday survivor comments on what people surviving the floods in Queensland will face emotionally (16). The Western Australian community of Waroona is beginning to clean up the mess following their devastating bushfire (17). And finally, former San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts, who lives in Sisters, Oregon, recounts the safety blitz firefighters mounted against a wildfire that threatened his home last summer!

(1) U.S. Forest Service Jobs Open To New Recruits

(2) Gov. Brown calls for firefighting cut backs

(3) California budget: Cuts to wildland firefighting teams loom

(4) Moving beyond discord

(5) Fire-fighting plane takes a back seat

(6) Firefighters to burn slash piles in Roosevelt National Forest

(7) Scott Fitzwilliams: Fire as a tool in the national forest

(8) Woodland Hills begins wildfire planning

(9) Input sought on proposed Meadow Creek project

(10) Dangerous Wildfire Season Predicted

(11) El Nino, La Nina and weather woes

(12) Tyumen Reg resident guilty of forest fire to pay compensation

(13) Europinion-Lessons Learned from Israel’s Mount Caramel Forest Fire

(14) Japan orders AW139 for firefighting mission

(15) Rowville firefighters haven't just been saving lives these past two weeks

(16) Support can be overwhelming, says Black Saturday survivor

(17) Bushfire-hit community begins clean up

(18) Former Oregon Ducks, NFL QB Dan Fouts feared losing home to fire last summer