WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 011312

The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag warning for much of Southern California as Santa Ana winds heat up the area (1); and Wildfire NOTD subscriber Rich Brooks, a reporter for the San Bernardino Press-Enterprise, provided updates on a 15-acre wildfire which has closed parts of Highway 18 in the San Bernardino Mountains (2); but with 73,000 homes residing on State Responsibility Area lands in San Diego County, some residents are concerned about the new $150 state wildfire fee (3); and after responding to 55 wildfires so far this month, compared to three in January of 2011, CAL FIRE is bracing for a very bad wildfire season (4). The California Public Utilities Commission has unveiled new powerline safety rules aimed at preventing wildfires (5); something which Nevada officials are examining closely after a few powerline fires of their own (6); while Nevada Division of Forestry fought to replace invasive cheatgrass with native species in order to reduce the wildfire danger in Douglas County (7). Scientists are warning that weather conditions which led to an 80,000-acre wildfire in New Mexico's Valles Caldera National Preserve in 2011 could persist into 2012 (8); while Idaho's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee approved $4 million to support wildland firefighting on state lands in 2012 (9); but after a $4 million shortfall in Arkansas Forestry Commission's budget led to the layoff of 36 firefighters, the governor has called for an investigation (10). Forestry officials in the UK have begun planting 60,000 trees in wildfire-ravaged Swinley Forest in Berkshire (11). The next article chronicles the efforts of Ghana's National Disaster Management Organization to reduce wildfire activity in that African nation (12); even as officials in Gambia were addressing similar issues (13). The Victorian government has reached an accord with Australia's largest cell phone provider allowing fire officials to issue bushfire alerts via text messaging beginning next December (14); where a bushfire scorched over 150 ha near Corop yesterday (15). Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service firefighters hoped that a shift in the wind would help them with their battle against a 19,000-hectare bushfire burning on Moreton Island (16); and a 500-hectare blaze threatened homes near Gladstone (17). Rural Fire Service officials in Clarence Valley, New South Wales, remarked on the quiet bushfire season so far (18); but energy utility Ausgrid fears that vandals may have started a bushfire near Lake Macquarie by throwing wire over power lines (19). Various groups are pulling together to provide bushfire relief for people in Margaret River, Western Australia, following devastating bushfires late last year (20). And finally, the next time you get ready to go to an incident, make sure somebody hasn't changed the locks on the firehouse!

(1) Warm today; red-flag warning for mountains

(2) UPDATE: Fire-troubled Hwy. 18 to reopen by 10 a.m.

(3) Residents in Wildfire-Ravaged Neighborhood Split on Fire Protection Fee

(4) Wildfire Season Could Be Worst Yet

(5) PUC OKs new power-line rules for wildfire safety

(6) California adopts new wildfire-prevention rules

(7) Seeding now to reduce fire risk later

(8) Severe drought may cause wildfires

(9) Lawmakers approve firefighting bill on state lands

(10) Beebe calls for audit of Forestry Commission

(11) Trees planted after forest fires

(12) NADMO steps up fight to stop wildfires

(13) Gambia: Niani District Authority Holds AGM

(14) Bushfire alerts extended next year

(15) Wildfire burns through 150 hectares at Corop

(16) Moreton Island bushfire still burning

(17) Central Qld residents on bushfire alert

(18) Relaxed but on alert

(19) Bushfire sparked by vandalism

(20) Support stepped up after bushfires

(21) Brooklyn, Illinois firefighters locked out of fire house