WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 041912

In Southern California, Orange County Fire Authority will be observing Wildfire Awareness Week in early May to remind homeowners of the wildfire danger posed by abundant fuel throughout the county (1); and Woodside Fire Protection District sponsored several wildfire drills in the Portola Valley last week (2). The Texas Wildfire Relief Fund, which provides resources to volunteer fire departments responsible for battling wildfires statewide, honored the Lieutenant Governor at a ceremony in Austin (3); wildfire damage to Bastrop and Buescher State Parks prompting cycling officials to reroute a bike race this year (4). Officials in Carbon County, Wyoming, have scheduled meetings in several towns to discuss preparation for wildfire evacuations with local populations (5); an Air Force Times article providing more background info on their MAFFS-equipped C-130 squadrons in the next article (6). Even though firefighters declared a wildfire in Pennsylvania's French Creek State Park officially out, embers underground could reignite it at any time (7); the wildfire danger prompting officials to impose a 30-day burn ban on open fires in Schuylkill County (8); the following article taking a closer look at a busy spring fire season in that state (9). Alabama Forestry Commission has been accused of mishandling $5 million in federal funds (10). Maine Forest Service reported that 229 fires had burned a total of 270 acres so far this year, triple the normal number (11); one of them a backyard cooking fire that started a small wildfire in Lincoln yesterday (12). Firefighters battled a wildfire outside of Farmington, New Hampshire, on Blue Job Mountain (13); while a firefighter was injured by a falling branch in Worchester County, Massachusetts, battling one of four wildfires reported yesterday (14). New York's Central Pine Barrens Commission is looking at better ways to suppress wildfires in the 102,000-acre region, possibly through controlled burns (15). Montana Senator Jon Tester grilled Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell in a Senate hearing in Washington DC which discussed US Forest Service's budget and its readiness for wildfires (16); more details on the hearing, which also touched on the large air-tanker crisis, being provided by the next article (a video of the hearing can be viewed here) (17). Rainfall has helped firefighters in Virginia bring wildfires that burned 36,000 acres to near-full containment (18); but the next article gives some insight on what wildfires reveal in the Bahamas: trash! (19) Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry blamed trash burning for many of the 59 wildfires that have scorched 9,200 ha near Lake Baikal (20); and Turkish officials evacuated three villages threatened by a wildfire in Karabük Province that blazed across 500 ha of forest land (21). A new wildfire was reported at the Buhisan Watershed Forest Reserve on the Philippines island of Cebu (22); while two dozen wildfires scorched 132 ha outside of Pune, India, in the first quarter of 2012, where the summer fire season is just beginning (23). And finally, science fiction meets firefighting as engineers unveil a new firefighting mask with a heads-up display built-in!

(1) Council Warms To Wildfire Awareness Week

(2) Fighting imaginary wildfires in Portola Valley

(3) Texas Wildfire Relief Fund Honors Lt. Gov. Dewhurst as "Champion of the Axe"

(4) Cycling notebook: BP MS 150 route altered after fires

(5) Carbon County making preparations for wildfires

(6) Air Guard readies to fight summer wildfires

(7) Pa. forest fire out, but new flareup feared

(8) Commissioners place ban on open fires for county

(9) Brush fire season lives up to its name in NEPA

(10) Alabama Forestry Commission under fire for money mismanaging

(11) Wildfires triple from last year, strain fire units

(12) Forest rangers respond to Lincoln brush fire

(13) Farmington firefighters quell brush blaze on Ten Rod Road

(14) Massachusetts Firefighter Injured Battling Brush Fire

(15) N.Y. Officials Take New Look at Wildfire Suppression

(16) Tester Questions Forest Service Readiness for Fire Season, Calls for Action

(17) Forest Service Discusses Role of Helicopters in Fire Mitigation

(18) Rain Helps Contain Wildfires

(19) "Pick up or Shut up" community clean-up in Grand Bahama

(20) Wildfires sweep across Siberia

(21) Three villages evacuated as forest fire scorches Karabük

(22) Another bush fire hits tree plantation

(23) Forest fires in Pune destroy 132 hectares in just 3 months

(24) Virtual masks improve firefighting