WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 090511

Sen. Dianne Feinstein chided the US Forest Service for missing a deadline for overhauling their aerial firefighting practices, including night attacks, following Southern California's deadly Station Fire (1); while CAL FIRE reported that the 1,158-acre wildfire burning near Cajon Pass was 100% contained last night (2); followed by an update from Wildfire NOTD subscriber Andrew Madsen, Public Affairs Officer for US Forest Service in the Los Padres National Forest, on the Figueroa Fire, which is 60% contained after burning 700 acres (3); while a 4,000-acre wildfire near Tehachapi was caused by a fatal small plane crash (4); but firefighters have a 700-acre wildfire burning outside of Sequoia National Park 70% contained (5); even as CAL FIRE cautioned motorists to keep their cars in good working order, due to the propensity for poorly-maintained cars to spark wildfires (6). The next article provides some details on wildfires burning in Oregon (7); where winds expanded a wildfire on Mount Hood past the 4,000-acre mark (8); and a Type 1 National Interagency Incident Management Team has taken over management of that blaze (9); but an arsonist is apparently responsible for five wildfires set in the Malheur National Forest over the weekend (10). A wildfire burning in Washington's Olympic National Forest has grown to 100 acres in size (11). Arizona's Southwest Coordination Center reported that wildfires in that state had burned 1,008,753 acres as of August 31 (12); but residents of Globe are up in arms about smoke from a US Forest Service-managed wildfire nearby (13). Firefighters brought containment to 75% on a 187-acre wildfire burning in Colorado's Eagle County (14); and as firefighters in Idaho brought a 2,330-acre wildfire in the Salmon-Challis National Forest to 15% containment, they braced for more wildfires due to higher temperatures and lower humidity (15); while a 260 acre wildfire burning in Utah's Zion National Park is 45% contained (16). A large grassfire burning in southwestern Oklahoma's Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge forced evacuations (17). Texas Forest Service reported on wildfires in East Texas (18); and a wildfire near Austin has scorched 17,500 acres, destroying 300 homes (19); but although cooler temperatures will be helpful to firefighters battling wildfires in North Texas, reduced humidity could make the blazes worse (20); the Texas wildfires forcing Gov. Rick Perry to return from campaigning in South Carolina (21); the following article providing details on how to help people impacted by the wildfires (22). Firefighters continued to deal with seven wildfires burning in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park (23). Heavy equipment had to be brought in to plow new containment lines when two wildfires burning near Oil City, Louisiana, breached the existing lines (24); but the Department of Agriculture and Forestry will have to wait until Tropical Storm Lee abates to assess damage done by a wildfire in Natchitoches Parish which destroyed 10 homes on Friday (25). Firefighters from Canada's British Columbia Forestry Service battled a 1 ha wildfire at McKinley Landing on Sunday (26); while numerous wildfires were reported in the Southern European countries of Spain, Italy, Greece, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, and Bulgaria over the weekend (27). Heading to Australia, a trial got under way in Victoria in which survivors are suing power utility Powercor in regards to the Black Saturday bushfires (28); and a man has been detained in regards to arson bushfires in the Northern Territory (29). Western Australia's embattled Fire and Emergency Services organization got another black eye, this time due to a technicality in its case against an off-duty police officer accused of accidentally sparking the destructive Kelmscott-Roleystone bushfires this past February (30); that story followed by an update on four ultramarathoners who were burned in one of 30 wildfires raging in that state over the past five days (31). And finally, in a follow-up to an article about someone shooting at National Guard helicopters fighting fires in Oklahoma, it turns out the accused individual was actually waving a fishing pole at them!

(1) FOREST SERVICE: Aerial firefighting plan delays spark criticism

(2) Hill Fire declared contained at 6 p.m. Sunday

(3) Fire Crews Work to Extinguish Figueroa Fire

(4) Fast-moving Tehachapi fire burns 4,000 acres

(5) Figueroa Fire now 70-percent contained

(6) Prevent forest fires by taking care of your car

(7) Fire near Sisters grows

(8) Winds help double size of Mount Hood fire

(9) Elite firefighting team to take over command of Dollar Lake fire near Hood River

(10) Arson suspected in Malheur fires

(11) Dry conditions fuel Olympic wildfire

(12) Arizona fires in '11 have burned 1 million+ acres

(13) Eastern Arizonans choking on smoke from wildfires

(14) 187-Acre Collard Green Fire Is 75% Contained

(15) Firefighters Expecting Increased Fire Behavior

(16) Zion wildfire containment expected Monday night or Tuesday

(17) Large Okla. Wildfire Causes Evacuations

(18) Fires still posing problems in E. TX

(19) Wildfire near Austin, Texas, destroys 300 homes

(20) Cooler temps relieve North Texas but cause problems for wildfires

(21) Two dead in Texas wildfires, Perry to return

(22) How to help during wildfires outbreak

(23) Fires keep burning in Yellowstone National Park

(24) Fires Near Oil City Jump Containment Line

(25) Wildfire out; extent unknown until weather calms

(26) Crews mop up brush fire in McKinley Landing

(27) EFFIS - Current Situation

(28) Powercor to blame for fire, court told

(29) Charges over fire

(30) Fire charges against Robert James Stevens dropped on legal technicalilty

(31) Kimberley marathon-race fire had been burning for five days

(32) Investigators Drop Noble Firefighting Helicopter Probe