WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 030712

A number of wildfires were reported along California's Central Coast on Tuesday (1); while firefighters plan to conduct controlled burns on 700 acres in the Grindstone Ranger District of Northern California's Mendocino National Forest on Friday (2). Windy conditions near Flagstaff, Arizona, allowed a debris pile burn to fan out and char 9 acres (3); and thick smoke from a 4,000-acre wildfire is blanketing parts of Okmulgee County, Oklahoma (4). Over $4 million in donations are helping communities hard hit by the Texas wildfires last year recover (5). Numerous wildfires have been reported across Kansas and Missouri, the situation not helped by windy conditions (6); one wildfire hindering travel on Interstate 44 near Rolla (7). Firefighters in Pulaski County, Arkansas, cited a business owner for starting an illegal grass fire (8). The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry has begun an investigation of a wildfire which burned along the Appalachian Trail north of Allentown (9); while gusty winds in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey prompted Red Flag Warnings by National Weather Service (10); the same winds causing concern in Maryland as well (11). The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation plans to conduct 155 acres of controlled burns in the Myles Standish State Forest today (12). US Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell testified before a Senate committee in Washington DC about the impact climate change is having on US Forest Service's wildfire budget (13); Chief Tidwell taking the opportunity to lobby for additional heavy air tankers (14). Firefighters have extinguished all but the embers of a wildfire burning in Marion County, Florida (15); a 5-acre wildfire in Volusia County was being contained by firefighters (16); while Florida Forestry Service firefighters reported that a 200-acre wildfire burning in Clay County was now 50% contained (17). Firefighters in Costa Rica have brought a wildfire in Cerro Chirripó under control with a little help from the Guatemalan Air Force (18); and in Scotland, Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service put out a heath fire on the grounds of Fort George Army Base (19). An Op-Ed piece from the African nation of Gambia discusses how to prevent bushfires during the harmattan season (20); while several Indian states are grappling with the problem of tendu contractors deliberately setting fires which then turn into wildfires (21); and although firefighters have snuffed out a wildfire burning in Vietnam's Hoang Lien-Sa Pa National Park, other wildfires continue to blaze across the Southeast Asian nation (22). Northern Australia is struggling with an invasion of gamba grass, which has 5 to 7 times the fuel load of native grasses, making bushfires much more intense (23); while a small Australian legal firm once again won out against high-profile corporate law firms over bushfire compensation (24); and Hurstbridge, Victoria, has unveiled its new Neighbourhood Safer Place (25). Details of the $31 million Black Saturday bushfire settlement, which was dismissed from the Victorian Supreme Court, are provided by the next item (26); but another case before the court has revealed that cigarette ash was unlikely to have sparked the deadly Churchill fire (27). In New South Wales, South Katoomba Rural Fire Brigade has redoubled its bushfire education efforts (28). FESA firefighters are gaining the upper hand on a bushfire burning near Mount Shadforth in Western Australia (29); as was the case with an 18,000-hectare bushfire near the Shire of Ashburton (30); but additional bushfires, including one that threatened property in the Shire of Denmark, were also reported (31). And finally, firefighters in Santa Maria, California, had to endure a grueling contest of will power: eating 5 pound pizzas for charity!

(1) Wildfires popping up on Central Coast

(2) Helitorch prescribed fire planned on Mendocino National Forest March 9

(3) Fire near Walnut Canyon chars 9 acres

(4) Wildfire smoke blankets area

(5) $4 Million In Donations After Central Texas Wildfires

(6) Wind-blown fires burn hundreds of acres in SW, SE Mo.; smaller fires reported in Kan.

(7) Forest Fire Hinders Travel on Interstate 44 near Rolla

(8) Business Owner Cited for Illegal Burn after Pulaski County Grass Fire

(9) Forestry Bureau investigates fire that lit up Blue Mountain north of Allentown

(10) Red flag warning: Forest fire threat at highest level

(11) Enhanced Threat For Spread Of Wildfires In Md.

(12) MYLES STANDISH STATE FOREST: Fighting fire with fire

(13) Climate change ravaging Forest Service budget for wildfire mitigation, officials say

(14) WILDFIRES: Aerial firefighting fleet insufficient, chief says

(15) Crews Put Out Wildfire in Marion County

(16) Wildfire Flares Up In Volusia County

(17) Keystone wildfire destroys home, still burning

(18) The Chirripó Forest Fire Under Control

(19) Crews tackle wildfire at Fort George

(20) Gambia: Let's Prevent Bushfires

(21) Tendu contractors to be fined for forest fires

(22) Wildfire in Vietnam national park extinguished

(23) Scientists warn of dangerous invader gamba grass

(24) David slays Goliath again

(25) Hurstbridge bushfire breakthrough

(26) Proposed Black Saturday compo revealed

(27) Ash unlikely Black Saturday fire starter, court told

(28) Blazing a trail for bushfire awareness

(29) Bushfire contained in WA's southwest

(30) Bushfire all clear given for Onslow

(31) Crews save two homes from bushfires near Denmark

(32) Firefighters take on different kind of battle