WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 103111

Although it's been a below-average fire season in much of California this year (5,192 fires that burned 50,860 acres versus 5,454 fires scorching 213,039 acres on average), fire officials warned that the season is practically year-round now (1); while an editorial endorses Congressman David Dreier's new bill which aims to protect 18,000 acres of Southern California's Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests (2); but Santa Ana winds are once again being forecast for San Diego County later this week (3). Fire managers in Arizona plan to ignite over 2,300 acres along the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park (4). FEMA reports on numerous acts of kindness extended by Texans to wildfire survivors in that state (5); even as the Department of Labor set aside $1,423,992 to help with temporary jobs in wildfire-ravaged areas (6); while the business of reconstructing neighborhoods is booming in Bastrop County (7); the Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator reflecting on dealing with the 35,000-acre wildfire, which destroyed 1600 homes, and its aftermath (8). A house fire in Holter Lake, Montana, scorched 20 acres around the property (9); but US Forest Service badly underestimated the potential for Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness wildfire, according to internal records (10). Black Hawk County, Iowa, is creating a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (11); while a 130-acre wildfire was reported in Galena, Missouri (12); and high winds made life difficult for firefighters battling a wildfire on the Alabama-Mississippi border (13). The French government is getting an earful about its response to wildfires on the Indian Ocean island of Réunion (14); while thousands of firefighters are battling a wildfire that began as a controlled burn in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province (15). With an estimated 50,000 bushfires reported each year, the Australian government has implemented a new system to trace arsonists (16); and a study done by two Australian universities takes a look at how rural communities deal with emergencies like bushfires (17). Some residents of Latrobe Valley, Victoria, are considering taking the Bushfire Response Minister up on his offer to buy back their bushfire-ravaged property (18); while fire officials in New South Wales are bracing for a repeat of the devastating bushfires of 1994 along the North Coast (19). As part of their bushfire awareness campaign, Country Fire Services South Australia has launched "The Intruder" (20); even as a 210-hectare wildfire is burning near Donnybrook, Western Australia (21). And finally, an article from New Jersey looks back on a forest fire that burned near Untermeyer Lake 20 years ago!

(1) Below-Average Fire Season Coming To A Close

(2) Protection for local forests

(3) Fire weather watch issued

(4) Range Prescribed Fire forthcoming on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

(5) FEMA: Grace After Fire: Young Volunteers Step Up to Help Wildfire Survivors

(6) US Department of Labor provides grant to assist recovery efforts following Texas wildfires

(7) Recovery continues after Bastrop County wildfires

(8) Work isn't over for Bastrop County emergency management coordinator

(9) Fire razes Holter Lake home

(10) Forest Service way off on BWCA fire projections

(11) County wildfire protection plan eyed

(12) Huge Wildfire In Galena Spreading To Carl Junction

(13) Wildfire ignites near Ala.-Miss. border

(14) Greens slam slow response to Réunion forest fires

(15) 4,700 fight forest fire in NE China

(16) New system to trace arsonists

(17) Coping with disasters

(18) Bushfire buyback scheme coming to LV

(19) Bushfire threat still real

(20) Breaking campaign: Country Fire Services SA

(21) Seven units battle Donnybrook bushfire

(22) Back in the Day - Nov. 3, 1991: Fire on the mountain in Kinnelon