WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 011812

Southern California mountain dwellers are receiving warnings from US Forest Service about the wildfire danger due to low precipitation so far this winter (1); while the US Department of Agriculture will be spending millions to help communities hard hit by wildfires in the southwestern part of the US in 2011 (2). The federal government has recovered $270,000 in suppression costs from a company whose equipment apparently started a 13,000-acre wildfire on the grounds of Idaho National Laboratory last year (3). A Texas resident has received additional charges over a 25,000-acre wildfire that burned in the Panhandle in 2011 (4); and Texas Forest Service provided an after-action report to lawmakers about the massive wildfires that raged through that state in 2011 (5); while FEMA will be conducting follow-up phone calls to Texans who've applied for some of the $13.5 million meted out in recovery efforts (6). A fisheries biologist will be giving a talk in Hamilton, Montana, about how wildfires in 2000 actually benefited trout (7); the next article providing a closer look at the new president of the International Association of Wildland Fire (8); while $15,000 will be donated to the Montana Horse Sanctuary by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to help feed animals impacted by an 18,000-acre wildfire that devastated the Blackfeet Indian Reservation (9). A wildfire in Lafayette County, Florida, has grown to 300 acres in size (10); and firefighters are battling a 15-acre wildfire near Sorrento, as well as another three-acre blaze outside of Port St. John (11); while fire officials released a statement in regards to the destruction of a 3,500-year-old cypress tree destroyed by wildfire in Seminole County (12). Hillsborough County, Florida, is conducting controlled burns at the county's parks (13); but the Caloosahatchee Forestry Center is concerned about being able to continue their controlled burn program as a $250,000 federal fund runs out (14). Two researchers from University of California Irvine’s Department of Earth System Science have revealed that tiny changes in water temperature can forecast South America's wildfire season (15); followed by a story that gauges the impact of forest fires on Brazil's Amazon rain forests (16). A wind-driven wildfire killed two and injured three in Nakapiripirit, Uganda (17); while in China, where 2% of the forests burn each year, Guangdong province has unveiled a new high-tech wildfire detection system that can report a wildfire within less than five minutes of its ignition, then monitor the blaze via aerial drones (18). Australian Capital Territory's government is calling for ideas on how to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a bushfire which burned through Canberra in 2003 (19); even as reconstruction of hundreds of homes destroyed in the fire nears completion (20). With the Australian Institute of Criminology indicating that $1.6 billion in bushfire damage is done each year, Crime Stoppers Victoria’s Bushfire Arson team is stepping up its warnings to residents to be vigilant for bushfire arsonists (21); where Australian cell phone provider Telstra is being pressured by local officials to put up more cell towers, thereby improving communications during future bushfires (22). Although it's been a quiet bushfire season in Port Stephens, New South Wales, fire officials warned residents not to become complacent (23). Country Fire Service issued an alert about a bushfire in the McLaren Flats region of South Australia's Adelaide Hills (24); while the advantages of controlled burns versus vegetation clearance is discussed by CFS's Manager of Prevention Services in an audio segment (25). Losses from a 400,000-hectare bushfire that is burning in Gascoyne have prompted Western Australia's Pastoralists and Graziers Association to appeal for a disaster declaration from the state government so that they can receive compensation (26); while bushfire claims were among the natural disasters which impacted Wesfarmers Insurance's bottom line (27). And finally, firefighters in Dallas, Texas, have been slapped with a $5,000 lawsuit after extricating a pair of Yorkie pups from the trunk of a car!

(1) Weather leads to fire danger

(2) USDA announces $308 million in aid to states

(3) Federal prosecutors recover $270,000 from Idaho company for costs of battling 2010 wildfire

(4) Texas man faces more charges for Panhandle wildfire

(5) Lessons from the fire line for Texas lawmakers

(6) Wildfire victims to get follow-up phone calls from FEMA

(7) Study looks at fish recovery after forest fires

(8) Stevensville's Dan Bailey named head of wildland firefighters’ group

(9) ASPCA Donates Funds to Feed Horses Impacted by Wildfires

(10) L.A. Bennett Wildfire in Lafayette now up to 300 acres

(11) New brush fires threatening homes near Sorrento, Port St. John

(12) Seminole County Fire Department and the State of Florida Forest Service Senator Tree Fire

(13) Season Brings Increased Prescribed Burns To Westchase Area

(14) Controlled burn a concern

(15) Sea temperature changes can forecast South American wildfires, study finds

(16) Amazonia: What's Happening to the World's Biggest Rain Forest?

(17) Uganda: Wildfire Kills Two, Injures Three in Nakapiripirit

(18) China pilots wildfire detection sensor network

(19) How should we remember the 2003 Bushfires?

(20) Bushfire rebuild nears completion

(21) Public urged to keep eye out for arsonists

(22) Blackwood Telstra tower: Moorabool mayor says honour promise

(23) Quiet bushfire season in Port but...

(24) Bushfire warning for McLaren Flat in Adelaide Hills

(25) Clearing vegetation in bushfire prone areas....how much is enough?

(26) Bushfire emergency zone

(27) Wesfarmers insurance arm also hit by disasters

(28) Dallas firefighters rescue dogs from car trunk