WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 022411

Bernalillo County, New Mexico, will be red-carding all 200 of their personnel (even paramedics) in preparation for wildfire season (1); while a pair of SEATS based in Amarillo, Texas, is being credited with having saved homes threatened by a 150 acre wildfire burning near Lake Meredith National Recreation Area (2). A summary of wildfires burning in three Alabama counties, a state in which 513 fires have burned over 12,000 acres since the first of the month, is provided in the next article (3); but firefighters in Paterson, New Jersey, responding to a wildfire burning near Interstate 80 found a homeless couple dead at the scene (4). A wildfire that burned nearly 2,000 acres in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park was apparently caused by ashes which were improperly disposed of (5); and as firefighting operations wind down in Harrisonburg, hundreds of firefighters are being released back to their own agencies (6); where FEMA will be paying 75% of firefighting suppression costs for several fires in that state (7). A prescribed burn is being faulted for starting an 800-acre wildfire that burned through Cumberland County, North Carolina (8); while a controlled burn in Zionville broke out of containment and burned a barn as well (9); and another in Shelby County burned 25 acres (10); where the fire danger remained high across the state (11). Georgia Forestry Commission reported that 21 wildfires burned over 950 acres in 17 counties in the southeastern part of the state (12); but firefighters are bringing fires there and in the northwest under control (13). A 2 acre fire was reported in Sri Lanka's Piduruthalagala Forest Reserve yesterday (14); while two elderly Australian heroin addicts scammed authorities in Victoria for $60,000, claiming to be Black Saturday bushfire survivors (15). And finally, a Boy Scout troop got up close and personal with a wildfire burning in Arkansas' Ouachita National Forest!

(1) BCFD amps up wildfire readiness

(2) Lake Meredith fire burns 150 acres

(3) Wildfires burn in Jefferson, Shelby and Cherokee counties

(4) Two dead homeless people found by firefighters off Interstate 80 in Paterson

(5) Wildfire in Warren County Caused by Ashes

(6) Firefighting Efforts Scaled Back

(7) FEMA: FEMA Authorizes Federal Funds To Help Battle Virginia Wildfires

(8) 'Burn boss': Stray ember lit Cumberland wildfire

(9) Brush fire catches barn in Zionville

(10) Wildfire danger: 25 acres scorched in county

(11) Any spark can start fire in tinder-dry N.C.

(12) Wildfires hit southeast Georgia

(13) Wildfires Contained in Northwest, Southeast Georgia

(14) Fire destroys forest land

(15) Addicts rorted bushfire fund

(16) Troop 12 helps put out forest fire in Ouachita National Forest