WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 012712

Santa Ana winds will gain strength overnight, increasing the wildfire danger across Southern California this weekend (1). An Arizona state senator, fed up with federal missteps in managing their forests, is arguing that the state should take over responsibility for wildfire mitigation in national forests (2); while firefighters from Sonora, Mexico, are receiving wildfire training in Nogales (3). Having already suffered $1.8 million in damages from wildfires, officials in Edmond, Oklahoma, are advising homeowners to be Firewise this winter (4); and in the Texas Panhandle, National Ranching Heritage Center will be hosting a panel on prescribed burns and wildfires Saturday (5). Firefighters are considering setting wildfires on between 900 and 1,500 acres in Pennsylvania's Poconos to rejuvenate the area (6); while the New York Times weighs in on the Department of Agriculture's new blueprint for America's forests (7). Florida Forest Service is warning homeowners about the wildfire danger posed by burning debris this winter (8); something echoed by officials at the Withlacoochee Forestry Center (9); and emphasized by a 14-acre wildfire that briefly threatened homes in Lehigh Acres on Thursday (10); as well as the 110-acre Bennett Swamp Fire near Ormond Beach (11); and a 15-acre blaze near Leisure Lakes (12). As many other countries have discovered, education is key to preventing wildfires in Israel, a theme repeated at the 'Climate Change and Forest Fires in the Mediterranean Basin' conference (13); and an Israeli fire chief will be speaking in Staten Island, New York, in February on the topic of the devastating wildfire which ripped through Carmel Forest near Haifa in 2010 (14). Farmers in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana lost dozens of bags of grain to bushfires believed to have been set by hunters (15). A wind-driven wildfire blazed across Sichuan province in southwest China (16); even as 3,000 firefighters continued to grapple with another blaze outside of Lijiang, in Yunnan province (17). Approximately 10 ha of trees were destroyed by a wildfire sparked by fireworks in Pangasinan, Philippines (18). The mayor of Murrindindi, Victoria, asked the Australian Prime Minister to stop dwelling on the Black Saturday disaster because it was hampering recovery in bushfire-hit towns (19); while Crime Stoppers Victoria used a traveling roadshow to educate residents of Healesville about how to spot bushfire arsonists (20). Quick work by firefighters contained a small bushfire burning near Ludlow, Western Australia (21); even as firefighters were mopping up bushfires outside of Gracetown and Busselton (22); but tourists attempting to leave Gascoyne because of an oncoming cyclone have their path blocked by bushfires burning near the main highway (23). And finally, firefighters in Massachusetts had an unusual extrication to perform: getting a youngster's hand out of a vending machine!

(1) WILDFIRE WARNING: Fierce winds, low humidity hit SoCal

(2) Lawmaker: In face of fire threat, state, counties deserve sovereignty over forests

(3) Sonoran firefighters get U.S. training

(4) Firefighters urge Edmond residents to prepare for wildfire season

(5) Panel schedules discussion of prescribed burns and wildfires

(6) Bethlehem water agency considers controlled burns

(7) How to Manage U.S. Forests, Version 3.1

(8) Residents urged to be cautious while burning trash, debris this winter

(9) Forestry Center warns of high wildfire risk

(10) Controlled burns help to control brush fires

(11) Firefighters work to knock down smoke on State Road 40 near Ormond Beach

(12) Wildfire contained in Leisure Lakes

(13) 'Education a vital tool in fire prevention'

(14) Israeli fire chief to speak at Staten Island's Congregation B' nai Israel

(15) Farmers’ toil erased by Bushfire

(16) Hundreds Battle Second Forest Fire in SW China

(17) Forest fire continues to burn in China

(18) Fire hits forest in Pangasinan

(19) Fire-hit towns try to shed the past

(20) Fire show at Queen's Park

(21) Quick response contains Ruabon fire

(22) Firefighters mop up south-west bushfires

(23) Cyclone, bushfires threaten WA

(24) Mass. firefighters rescue girl stuck in machine