WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 071811

Firefighters grappled with a 100-acre wildfire burning near Southern California's Apple Valley (1); and a small wildfire was reported near Lake Skinner in Riverside County, as well (2); another being contained by Ventura County Fire Department after burning 78 acres along Highway 118 over the weekend (3); and a 325-acre wildfire was reported outside of Herlong (4); while air-tankers, helicopters, and firefighters on the ground grappled with a 23-acre wildfire in San Diego County (5). CAL FIRE responded to a four-acre wildfire that destroyed in outbuilding in Middletown, California (6); but homeowners in wildfire-prone parts of California may soon be paying an extra $150 firefighting levy (7). In a rare legal victory for the US Forest Service, an environmentalist-backed lawsuit against the Angora Fire Restoration Project, set to take place in California's South Lake Tahoe region, was shot down by a Sacramento judge (8). With a steady decline in the number of fire lookouts in Oregon and Northern California, the next article examines the situation and the promise of cameras as replacements (9); this at a time when fire officials in Central Oregon are concerned about a rash of 90 human-caused wildfires already this year (10). Air-tankers saw some action over a 123-acre wildfire near Carson City, Nevada (11); and firefighters also battled a blaze in northern Reno (12). In his efforts to rehabilitate areas burned by the Wallow Fire, US Sen. John Kyl introduced the Arizona Wallow Fire Recovery and Monitoring Act for a vote in the U.S. Senate (13); but in the aftermath of those wildfires, Burn Area Emergency Recovery teams are struggling to save the endangered Chiricahua Leopard Frog (14). An article from New Mexico's Gallatin National Forest takes a closer look at helitack team training (15); followed by an article about that state's agricultural emergency response plans to protect livestock from wildfires (16). In Colorado, the Summit County Wildfire Council weighs in on means to protect homes from wildfires (17). Firefighters in Tooele County, Utah, battled an 8,000-acre wildfire (18); and a 50 to 60-acre wildfire was reported burning on private land near Zion National Park (19); but the next article discusses the difficulties in having arsonists (both accidental and intentional) pay for the wildfires they start (20). An innovative program by the Texas Department of Agriculture aims to collect private donations to help farmers and ranchers rebuild fence line destroyed by massive wildfires in that state (21); while Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dan Snyder, Senior Vice President of Montana-based Neptune Aviation, describes the organization's work with the BAE-146 air-tanker in Missoula (22). With 33 counties currently under a burn ban, Arkansas is bracing for more wildfires (23). Towns in Western and Central Massachusetts that suffered rare tornado storm damage are now concerned about wildfires being ignited in the debris left behind (24); a 2 to 3 acre blaze underscoring the danger (25). Two Bureau of Land Management fire specialists at Idaho's National Interagency Fire Center weigh-in on the wildfires that have been ravaging the Southwest this year in a New York radio segment (26); while Congressional Fire Services Institute sent along a link to the July 14th Congressional hearing on reauthorization of the FEMA fire grants programs in Washington, DC (27). North Carolina's budget cuts (a 40% reduction since 2007, including the sale of the state's only firefighting aircraft) are having an impact on the cost of firefighting, estimated at $20 million by the Emergency Response Commission (28); and firefighters battling a 5,600-acre blaze that straddles Cumberland and Bladen Counties say they need 5 to 6 inches of rain to squelch wildfires in the state (29); while North Carolina State University will be conducting studies on better PPE protection from radiant heat for wildland firefighters (30). Although a wildfire near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has been extinguished, smoke from the fire continues to sully the skies of that community (31); and soaking rains are being credited with helping firefighters increase containment on a 300,000-acre wildfire burning in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp (32). Heading to Canada, a Wildfire Threat Assessment of Crown land near Kamloops, British Columbia, has been completed (33); but nearly 100 wildfires are burning in northwest Ontario, forcing evacuations of some First Nation settlements (34); and looking back at the fires of 2010, Quebec's Forest Fire Protection Agency warned of the increasing fire danger in that province (35). Nearly half a dozen new wildfires were reported in Italy, and another was reported in Croatia (36); more details on the Croatian wildfire, which has burned nearly 10,000 acres, provided in the next article (37); and over 700 Russian firefighters battled 26 wildfires burning in Siberia's forests (38). In Israel, a Holocaust memorial ceremony was interrupted outside of Jerusalem by a wildfire that forced evacuations of the area (39); authorities arresting a Jewish man whose debris fire may have sparked the blaze (40). A conference organized by Africare, a US based non-profit international non-governmental organization (INGO) and funded by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) tackled the issue of wildfires in the African nation of Ghana (41). China's State Forestry agency reported 4,833 wildfires in the first half of 2011, a 32% reduction compared to normal (42); while Japan's Morita Holdings Corporation will be awarded top honors for a new, high-tech wildfire-fighting fire engine at the 2011 International Design Excellence Awards in New Orleans in September (43); but a wildfire burned 100 ha of forest land in Vietnam's Phu Yen Province (44). Heading to Australia next, parts of Queensland are under a burn ban as bushfire conditions worsen in the area (45); while firefighters from South Australia's Country Fire Service fear that a $2 million budget cut could jeopardize lives when the bushfire season arrives (46). And finally, a firefighter from Georgia is doing his part to reduce pet deaths in the US (estimated at 40,000 per year by the National Volunteer Fire Council) by introducing a new system!

(1) Firefighters battle brush fire east of Apple Valley

(2) MURRIETA: Small brush fire reported near Lake Skinner

(3) Wildfire along 118 burns 78 acres, no structures

(4) UPDATE: Brush Fire in Herlong Contained at 325 Acres

(5) Sheds destroyed in Jacumba blaze, flames jump highway

(6) Jerusalem Valley fire destroys outbuilding, burns four acres

(7) Gov. Jerry Brown, Legislature require rural homeowners to pay fire fee

(8) Judge tosses challenge to Angora Fire Restoration Project

(9) Number of staffed forest fire lookouts decreasing

(10) Early Worry: Already 90 Human-Caused Fires

(11) Firefighters get upper hand on 123-acre blaze

(12) Crews continue to battle Brooklyn Fire above Robb Drive in Reno

(13) Sen. Kyl pushes for salvage project

(14) After the burn: Forest Service mitigating wildfire erosion

(15) High, hot and heavy: Rappel fire crew trains in Taos

(16) Wildfires trigger ag emergency response plans statewide

(17) Prepare for wildfire now, even with all the rain

(18) Wildfire burns over eight-thousand acres in Tooele County

(19) Wildfire burns near Zion National Park

(20) In Utah wildfires, culprits get away with their money

(21) STAR Fund assists ranchers with wildfire rebuilding

(22) Neptune Aviation tests firefighting jet on low flights over Missoula

(23) Wildfires continue to burn across Arkansas

(24) Towns hit by storms on guard for fires

(25) Firefighters from 12 towns help put out brush fire in Westborough

(26) Please Explain: Wildfires

(27) FEMA Reauthorization and Cutting the Red Tape in Recovery

(28) NC wildfires burn through budget

(29) Conditions favor Cumberland-Bladen wildfire

(30) Researchers hope to improve suits for wildland firefighters

(31) Hornet Fire creating smoky skies in Grand Strand

(32) Rains holding Ga. wildfire below 300,000 acres

(33) Completion of the 2011 Wildfire Threat Assessment

(34) Northern Ontario battles 96 wildfires as more loom

(35) Quebec forest fire risk rising

(36) EFFIS - Current Situation

(37) Major forest fire rages on Croatian holiday island

(38) Russia battling over two dozen wildfires

(39) Firefighters gain control over Jerusalem fire, police suspect arson

(40) Man arrested on suspicion of starting J'lem forest fire

(41) Agriculturists call for strategies to stem bushfire menace

(42) Fewer forest fires reported in first half of year

(43) Morita's Forest Fire Fighting Concept Car Wins a 2011 IDEA Gold Award

(44) Forest fires in central region destroy 100ha

(45) Bushfire threat heats up

(46) Fire service cuts put lives in danger

(47) Firefighter Creates System to Save Pets from Home Fires