WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 041412

Wildfire NOTD subscriber Tony Morris, Communications Director of Wildfire Research Network, weighs in on the current status of air-tankers and other firefighting issues in an editorial from Santa Monica, California (1); while US Forest Service has received final approval to begin thinning projects on 10,000 acres of land around South Lake Tahoe (2). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Chuck Bushey, Past President of the International Association of Wildland Fire, sent along an invitation to their upcoming webinar adjunct to the 3rd Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire, for all those fire folks who can't make it to the actual conference next week in Seattle, Washington (3). A citizens action group is trying to ban campfires in five national forests in Northern Arizona between May 1 and July 15 (4). The next two articles show how folks in Santa Fe, New Mexico, are preparing their property for the inevitable wildfires of summer (5)(6). One year after a 314,000-acre wildfire devastated the tourist town of Fort Davis, Texas, the next article looks at how things stand (7); while Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources is monitoring the remains of a wildfire that burned 1,600 acres and destroyed eight structures near Nimrod (8). U.S. Senator Bob Casey sent a letter to US Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell asking USFS to stand ready to help battle wildfires across Pennsylvania (9); and wildfire activity in Berks County is the focus of the next article (10); but sixty acres of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area were torched to create open space and reduce the danger of catastrophic wildfires (11). Firefighters in Jonesboro, Maine, battled a 7-acre wildfire that began as a controlled burn (12). In New York state, the St. Lawrence County Red Cross offered tips on how to prevent wildfires (13); but having grappled with a massive wildfire on New York's Long Island this past week, firefighters look back at how the lessons learned from another massive blaze of 1995 helped them deal with this latest conflagration (14). A summary of wildfire activity reported by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service comes with a warning about the continued fire danger (15); where the New Jersey Transit shut down the line near Glen Rock due to a wildfire for 2 hours (16); and as if firefighters didn't have enough fires to fight this past week, two men have been arrested for setting two fires to cover thefts! (17) Higher temperatures predicted for the weekend across Virginia may add to the 20,000 acres already burned in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests (18); the following item providing an update on wildfires statewide (19); while an audio segment provides an update on the wildfire situation in Page County (20); but exhausted crews battling a 2,600-acre wildfire in Rockbridge County reported that the wildfire had breached a control line (21). North Carolina Forest Service reported a 500-acre wildfire burning near Hampstead apparently started as a controlled burn (22); and a small wildfire was reported in Horry County, South Carolina (23); one of 1,100 reported in that state so far this year (24). A 200-acre wildfire on the grounds of Fort Benning, Georgia, is now under control (25); however, Florida Forest Service reported that 79 fires have burned about 1,400 acres across that state since the first of the year (26). A bushfire in Northland, New Zealand, that burned 3 hectares is believed to be arson (27). And finally, ducklings trapped in a Seattle storm drain were rescued by a trio of firefighters!

(1) The Start Of Wildfire Season Is Only Weeks Away

(2) Major forest-thinning project at Tahoe approved

(3) 3rd Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire: Virtual Conference

(4) Flagstaff Group Pushing for Forest Campfire Ban

(5) A checklist for wildfire season

(6) Homeowners in Santa Fe's fire-risk areas work to protect properties

(7) Fort Davis still recovering a year after wildfires

(8) Park Rapids DNR to keep eye on Nimrod wildfire

(9) Casey Calls on U.S. Forest Service to Monitor Pennsylvania’s Brush Fire Outbreak

(10) Another wildfire, this one on Blue Mountain; Route 61 lane shut

(11) Park Officials Set Forest on Fire

(12) Jonesboro wildfire doused after blueberry burn gets out of control

(13) As wildfire threat remains in St. Lawrence County, Red Cross offers tips for safety

(14) Wildfires fought with wisdom from '95 blaze

(15) Dry weather increases NJ forest fire threat

(16) Glen Rock brush fire injures firefighter, suspends NJ Transit service for 2 hours

(17) Two Clementon men arrested for lighting wildfires to cover thefts

(18) Wildfires likely to get worse as weather changes

(19) UPDATED: Saturday wildfire update

(20) Firefighters Continue Efforts In Page County

(21) Crews Struggle to Fight Growing Rockbridge Co. Wild Fires

(22) UPDATE: Hampstead wildfire continues to spread

(23) County officials, SCFC saturating acreage of contained Carolina Forest fire

(24) Carolina Forest residents follow brush fire's progress

(25) Wildfire at Fort Benning under control

(26) Panhandle entering wildfire season

(27) Firefighters struggling with suspected arson

(28) Firefighters rescue ducklings from drain