WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 061512

Popular Science takes a closer look at how firefighters battle wildfires in our first item today (1); followed by an NPR segment sent along by Wildfire NOTD subscriber Ed Story, CEO of the Aerial Fire Response & Research Network, in which Wildfire NOTD subscriber Max Moritz, a Researcher at UC Berkeley's Center For Fire Research and Outreach, discusses the impact of climate change on wildfires of the future (2). The Bureau of Land Management is putting together a team of military veterans to fight fires nationwide from Sacramento, California (3); while firefighters in Washington state grappled with a 1,200-acre wildfire in Adams County which is now 70% contained (4). A 3,871-acre fire burning south of Silver Springs, Nevada, is 50% contained (5); but US Forest Service has announced that fire restrictions will go into effect in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest on Monday (6). An update on wildfire activity in Arizona is provided by the next article (7); where an 18-acre wildfire was reported east of Tucson (8); while Wildfire NOTD subscriber Rick Hatton, CEO of Ten Tanker LLC (www.10tanker.com), comments on Tanker 911's readiness to intervene in a 1,000-acre wildfire burning in the Tonto National Forest (9). Firefighters threw containment lines around an 11 1/2-acre wildfire burning near Manzano, New Mexico (10); while fire crews cut through red tape as well as wildfires to save between 50 and 70 homes threatened by the Little Bear Fire (11); but the fire did spare some sacred locations (12); and a talkshow host argues that perhaps the state should take over jurisdiction of the Lincoln National Forest to reduce the danger of wildfires in the future (13); but in the meantime, fire officials are imposing fire restrictions in Taos County in light of current wildfire activity across the state (14). The 52,000-acre High Park Fire continues to expand as low humidity and windy conditions prevail in Larimer County, Colorado (15); where a tent city that houses 1,263 wildland firefighters has sprung up on the outskirts of Fort Collins (16); and hopefully the city has accommodations for additional air-tanker pilots as well (17); but Aspen has hired its former fire chief to help set up its Wildfire Mitigation Program (18); the difficult task of evacuating horses and livestock along with people threatened by wildfires being addressed by the next article (19); an Op-Ed piece tying climate change into current events in that state (20). Firefighters expect to have a 9,000-acre wildfire burning near Murphy, Idaho, fully contained today (21); with a little help from Canadian air-tankers (22); and a memorial service was held in Boise to honor two firefighting pilots killed when Neptune Aviation's Tanker 11 crashed in Utah (23). A trio of families in Montana is suing US Forest Service for damages incurred in a 2010 wildfire that spawned from a controlled burn set in the Helena National Forest (24). The debate over increased logging to reduce forest fires across the West is broached in an article from Wyoming (25); and although the air-tanker relief bill has been signed, Wildfire NOTD subscriber Chuck Bushey, Past President of the International Association of Wildland Fire, weighs in on some of the limitations these vital aircraft still face in an article from Wyoming (26); and the Washington Post examines the issues with comments from Wildfire NOTD subscribers Tony Morris, Communications Director at Wildfire Research Network, and former US Forest Service Regional Aviation Officer Dennis Hulbert (27). In Canada, a trio of Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment firefighting aircraft has arrived in the US to help with wildfires (28); while wildfire activity in Ontario is summarized by the next article (29); where a wildfire near Timmins which has been contained may continue to burn all summer (30); while wildfire activity in the province of Labrador is examined by the next article (31). Western Australia's top cop has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the investigation into Perth Hills bushfires (32). And finally, damage done to a water pipeline by Arizona's Monument Fire last year may lead to a shootout between US Forest Service and the wild west town of Tombstone!

(1) FYI: How Do Firefighters Tackle a Voracious, Out-of-Control Fire?

(2) Climate Change May Spark More Fires In The Future

(3) BLM hiring veterans to staff firefighting crew in Sacramento

(4) Tri-City firefighters help to battle wildfire

(5) Wildfire South of Silver Springs 50% Contained

(6) Fire Restrictions Announced in Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest

(7) Arizona fires: Yet another Tonto blaze burning

(8) Firefighting reduces size of Redington Fire east of Tucson

(9) Poco Fire: Firefighting DC-10 on standby; 1,000 acres burned

(10) UPDATED: North Fire Near Manzano Reaches 11.5 Acres

(11) Rogue firefighters save homes threatened by Little Bear Fire

(12) Vengeful forest fire forgiving, too

(13) Time to fire the political fire managers

(14) Fire restrictions in place for Taos

(15) Colorado wildfire: High Park fire jumps Poudre River; 80 homes ordered evacuated

(16) Firefighters rest, refuel at tent city in Fort Collins (video, slide show)

(17) Colorado: 6th airtanker brought in to fight High Park Fire

(18) Aspen hires former fire chief to head wildfire program

(19) Horses and livestock saved from Colorado wildfires

(20) As Politicians Debate Climate Change, Our Forests Wither

(21) Wildfire burns more than 8,000 acres in Idaho

(22) Canadian Air Tankers Help Fight Murphy Fire

(23) Idaho memorial service honors firefighting pilots

(24) Mont. Families Sue Forest Service Over 2010 Fire

(25) Loggers: Forest Service policies thwart logging

(26) New tanker planes sought as wildfires rage

(27) Forest Service gives go-ahead for newer firefighting airplanes

(28) Sask. sending aircraft to help fight U.S. wildfires

(29) One new forest fire burns near Sudbury

(30) Timmins forest fire may take all summer to put out

(31) Chopper helping fight Labrador forest fires

(32) O'Callaghan cleared over bushfire claims, but 'could have been more transparent'

(33) Locals duel with feds in Wild West city of Tombstone