WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 012612

The Southern California arsonist who started 2003's Old Fire in San Bernardino County is considering changing his plea (1); but fire chiefs in Santa Barbara County are concerned that California's new $150 fire fee for homes in State Responsibility Areas (which include 20,000 in that county) may not fund fire protection (2); and a new study by the Ecological Society of America points to car and industrial emissions as a factor in the expansion of invasive grasses that fuel wildfires across the California deserts (3); while the next article takes a closer look at CAL FIRE's growing overtime pay problem (4). In the aftermath of a 1,300-acre wildfire in Grant County, New Mexico, fire officials reminded residents of that state of the high fire danger (5); and public input is being sought in a series of Community Wildfire Protection Plan meetings in Mesa County, Colorado (6). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dan Snyder, President of Montana-based air-tanker giant Neptune Aviation, comments on the US Forest Service's request that their aircraft be ready for an early fire season in the following press release (7). As swamp fires continue to smolder outside of New Orleans, Louisiana, the next article takes a look at the persistence of these wildfires (8); while in Washington, DC, the Secretary of Agriculture unveiled new forest rules which will dictate how 193 million acres of US forest land will be protected and utilized (9). A total of 2,500 firefighters, police officers, and soldiers are battling a 45-hectare wildfire burning in southwest China's Yunnan Province (10). A bushfire was reported in the Shire of Irwin, Western Australia (11); and another was apparently sparked by lightning near Gingin (12); but although firefighters have finally corralled a bushfire burning just outside the City of Wanneroo, multiple bushfire warnings remain in place elsewhere in the state (13). And finally, our last article asks the question: can massive wildfires make big government attractive?

(1) Man charged in Old fire may change plea related to 2003 blaze

(2) Fire Chiefs Seeing Red

(3) Car emissions may fuel desert forest fires

(4) Firefighter overtime in California so abundant it is hurting management ranks

(5) Officials warn of high wildfire danger in southwest New Mexico

(6) Public Opinion Encouraged in Countywide Wildfire Planning Meetings

(7) Neptune Aviation Accelerates Air Tanker Readiness For Predicted Early 2012 Wildland Fire Season

(8) Swampy fires festering on New Orleans' edge may take months to lay low

(9) APNewsBreak: US to unveil new forest rules

(10) 2,500 Battling Mountain Forest Fire in SW China

(11) Bushfire advice for Arrowsmith, affecting Brand Highway and Indian Ocean Drive

(12) Bushfire Advice after lightning strikes start fire near Gingin

(13) Watch alert on fires

(14) Why Climate Change Will Make You Love Big Government