WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 122311

Following the release of the GAO's Station Fire report, which was labeled as "a very incomplete report", Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Paul Pringle delves into the controversy over phone recordings by the US Forest Service which were withheld from both a USFS investigative team and that newspaper (1); while a pair of wildfires sparked by wind activity in the Sierra Nevada mountains were reported in El Dorado County (2); and California's controversial wildfire fee, which will impact tens of thousands of Bay Area property owners, is revisited by an article from the San Francisco Chronicle (3). The rodents had the last laugh on a homeowner in Idaho whose attempts to extinguish them ignited a brushfire instead! (4) Officials in Texas unveiled the new Texas Alliance of Prescribed Burn Association, which plans to safely increase the amount of controlled burns conducted to reduce the incidence of wildfires across the state (5); followed by a radio segment that relates the story of wildfire survivors in Bastrop County celebrating Christmas in temporary housing (6); while children are doing their part to replant areas blackened by wildfires this summer (7). A political firestorm over the layoff of three dozen Arkansas Forestry Commission wildland firefighters brewed up in the state capital (8). The next article takes a closer look at wildfires in China, where declining forest health exacerbates the problem (9); while a wildfire burning in Nepal's Manang District continues to defy efforts of firefighters to control it (10). Life in parts of Western Australia ravaged by bushfires is slowly returning to normal (11); even as the Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) is restructured (12). And finally, we conclude this year (and celebrate Christmas) with a group of 'silent monks' performing Handel's 'Messiah', a favorite for this time of year. Merry Christmas to you all!

(1) Answers sought in legality of Station fire phone recordings

(2) Wildfire west of Lake Tahoe threatens cabins

(3) Rural residents protest new fire protection fee

(4) Idaho Firefighters Save House From Brush Fire

(5) Prescribed burn alliance formed after record-breaking wildfire season

(6) Wildfire Survivors Adapting for the Holidays

(7) Children donate seeds for wildfire-stricken Bastrop

(8) Forest fire at the Capitol

(9) Saving forests with fire

(10) Wildfire goes beyond control in Lamjung

(11) South West revives after bushfires

(12) WA's firefighting agency restructured

(13) Silent Monks Singing Hallelujah Chorus