WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 021112

A 140-acre burning on the grounds of Camp Pendleton Marine base in San Diego County, California, was 75% contained Friday night (1); but Nevada Fire Safe Council, a nonprofit which helps protect over 100 communities from wildfires, has been called on the carpet by federal investigators over mismanagement of federal grant money (2). A man whose debris fire started a 3,000-acre wildfire that destroyed 13 homes in Larimer County, Colorado, has been sentenced to jail time (3); while a meeting of government agencies moved forward fire planning for Wyoming's Shoshone National Forest this week (4). An article from Montana discusses a US Forest Service press release announcing their plans to replace the heavy air-tanker fleet, with comments by wildfire NOTD subscriber Rick Hatton, CEO of 10 Tanker LLC (5); followed by the Forest Service press release itself, which was sent along by Wildfire NOTD subscriber Tony Morris, Communications Director for Wildfire Research Network (6); and a pair of Washington Post articles provide some details on the aircraft involved (7)(8). Minnesota's Voyageurs National Park will be holding a meeting on February 19th to discuss the benefits of forest fires to the ecosystem (9); while the US Forest Service has rescheduled a 1,200-acre controlled burn in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest for next Friday (10). An Op-Ed piece from the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago comes to the defense of the Forestry Division, which has been battered by criticism following the destruction wrought by forest fires in 2010 (11); and a bushfire in the African nation of Uganda destroyed a fuel tanker along the Lira-Kampala highway (12). Indian fire officials have stepped up efforts to protect Mukurthi National Park from wildfires as the summer season approaches (13). Western Australia's government is under fire for delays in equipping schools across the state with bushfire-resistant evaporative cooler filters (14); while the Association of Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades is opposed to FESA taking over bushfire-fighting duties in that state (15); even as a 5,000-hectare bushfire which started in Babbington State Forest prompted officials to issue alerts for the region (16). And finally, it was a case of firefighters behaving badly as a contingent hosed down the Belgian Prime Minister's office to protest alterations to fire department retirement policies!

(1) CAMP PENDLETON: Wildfire burns 140 acres on base, 75 percent surrounded

(2) Feds: Nevada fire council mismanaged grants

(3) Man Sentenced To 60 Days In Jail For Starting Crystal Fire

(4) Shoshone planning talks explore wilderness, grazing, fire

(5) Forest Service unveils plan for replacing old slurry bombers that fight fires

(6) US Forest Service announces strategy to replace large airtankers for wildfire efforts

(7) Time to retire

(8) As wildfire season nears, the aging fleet of air tankers raises concerns

(9) Workshop on fire, ecosystem

(10) Bearpen Mountain Prescribed Burn

(11) In defence of the Forestry Division

(12) Bushfire blows fuel tanker to pieces

(13) Mukurthi National Park intensifies Fire prevention, conservation measures

(14) Fire safety bungle puts kids at risk

(15) Volunteers fear FESA power grab

(16) Bushfire Advice in place for south of Northcliffe in Manjimup

(17) Firefighters spray premier's office