WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 081111

Two wildfires in Southern California kept crews in Santa Barbara County busy yesterday (1); while two wildfires were also reported in Amador County, one of them breaking out near a CAL FIRE academy (2); followed by two articles which touch on California's $150 fee to be charged to homeowners/renters living in wildfire-prone parts of the state: the County of Tulare has voted to send a letter of protest to the state about the additional fee (3); and legislators may want to reconsider the wording in the bill because it could cause a major shortfall to CAL FIRE's funding (4). The quiet fire season in the Pacific Northwest has had a deleterious impact on the pocketbooks of firefighters working for Oregon-based Grayback Forestry (5). A wildfire which has burned 5,408 acres in Walla Walla County, Washington, has finally been fully contained (6); while a 408-acre wildfire destroyed one structure and threatened several homes in the eastern part of the state (7); and a 90-acre wildfire burning near Aladdin was 60% contained Wednesday night (8); even as firefighters in Wallowa-Whitman National Forest watched a small wildfire that was being allowed to burn (9). The next article takes a look back at Arizona's wildfire season, which has burned a record 981,748 acres to date (10); followed by the harrowing experience of an Arizona SEAT pilot who crashed in Arkansas (11). Aurora Water will donate $500,000 to the restoration of areas burned by Colorado's Hayman Fire in 2002 (12). Seven new lightning-sparked wildfires were reported in Idaho's Salmon-Challis National Forest (13); this at a time when ranching families have been devastated by losses to their pasture lands due to wildfires (14). Lightning was blamed for six new wildfires burning in Western Montana's Bitterroot National Forest (15); and lightning sparked a three-acre wildfire near Lincoln as well (16). August has already proved to be a busy month for firefighters in Arkansas, where 47 of the 75 counties remain under burn bans despite recent rain (17); while a biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission comments on the ecological benefits of wildfires that have plagued that state this year (18). Delaware Forest Service sent a crew to help fight the 3,200-acre wildfire burning in Virginia's Great Dismal Swamp Wildlife Refuge (19); but firefighters in North Carolina's Bent Creek Experimental Forest will be lighting 42 acres of their own today (20). In a sign of how mild British Columbia, Canada's, fire season has been, the first wildfire of the season was just reported in the Lillooet Fire Zone (21); however, over 100 wildfires remain active in Ontario, which has seen 825 fires scorch 569,067 hectares so far this year (22). In the Mediterranean Basin, wildfires were reported in Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Albania, France, and the North African nations of Algeria and Tunisia (23). Tangent Link sent along a reminder about their upcoming Aerial Firefighting Australia conference, which will be chaired by Wildfire NOTD subscriber David Cant, Manager of Aviation Services for South Australia Country Fire Service (24); while more money is being made available to survivors of bushfires by the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund (25). With August and September being the driest months in Queensland, fire officials were reminding residents of Bundaberg to be prepared (26); and a large blaze is burning near Rockhampton, prompting Queensland Fire and Rescue Service to advise homeowners to update their bushfire evacuation plans just in case (27). Some parts of Western Australia face an above-average bushfire season according to the Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre's Northern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook (28); even as the bushfire danger continues to rise in the Northern Territory due to record heat, where firefighters saved numerous homes in Alice Springs from a blaze (29). And finally, it's not often that a firefighter gets rewarded for a rescue, but one in Florida earned a kitten after rescuing it from a drain pipe!

(1) 2 brush fires keep firefighters hopping

(2) Amador hit with two fires in one day

(3) Tulare County to protest state firefighting fee

(4) New wildfire fee may drain agency's firefighting budget

(5) Collecting Dust, Not Paychecks

(6) WILDFIRE: Blaze near Wallula 100 percent controlled

(7) Wildfire blackens 400-plus acres near Tonasket

(8) In brief: Crews contain portion of Colville forest fire

(9) Forest officials watching blaze in Eagle Cap Wilderness

(10) Arizona News from The Arizona Republic

(11) Tucson man welcomed home after surviving plane crash

(12) Aurora Water partners with US Forest Service to restore area burned by Hayman fire

(13) Lightning causes seven new fires on Salmon-Challis forest

(14) Idaho Ranching Families Devastated by Wildfires

(15) Six more lightning fires burning up West Fork of the Bitterroot

(16) Wildfire reported near Lincoln

(17) August is Busy Month for Wildfires in Arkansas

(18) Wildfires Aren't All Bad; There Are Some Benefits

(19) DE firefighters to help battle VA swamp fire

(20) Bent Creek Experimental Forest burn set for Thursday, Aug. 11

(21) First forest fire of the season quickly extinguished along Highway 12

(22) Forest Fire Situation Improving, But Lots of New Ones Near James Bay

(23) EFFIS - Current Situation

(24) Last Chance to attend Aerial Firefighting Australia

(25) More cash for Vic bushfire survivors

(26) Bushfire season is upon Bundy

(27) Fire warning for Lion Mountain

(28) Plans in place to combat bushfire risk

(29) Homes saved from Central Australian bushfire

(30) Firefighter adopts kitten after rescue from drain