WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 042112

Nevada Wildfire Awareness Week will kick off next week with a program entitled “Wildfire Survival - It Takes A Community, You Can Make a Difference!” (1); but people planning to sue the state of Colorado over losses due to the Lower North Fork Fire, which developed from a controlled burn that breached containment lines, will only be able to collect $600,000 due to the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (2). As fire officials in Travis and Austin Counties, Texas, kicked off their "Wildfire Ready Austin" program, they reminded people of a 100-acre wildfire that hit the area last April (3); while a Central Texas filmmaker has sued his insurance company for not paying $239,000 for losses he suffered in the 2011 Bastrop County wildfires (4). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dan Snyder, President of Montana-based Neptune Aviation, discusses plans to shift over from P-2V aircraft to the BAE 146 heavy air-tanker in the next article (5); and Maine Forest Service, assisted by aircraft and local fire departments, grappled with 15 wildfires across the state yesterday (6). In Massachusetts, Brimfield State Forest was removing storm-felled timber to reduce the wildfire danger (7); while firefighters continue to monitor a 20-acre area burned by a wildfire outside of Dedham to prevent flareups (8). New Jersey Forest Fire Service squelched a 1-acre wildfire outside of Lakewood this afternoon (9); that article followed by one from Virginia which explores the causes behind that state's rash of wildfires this spring (10). Canadian firefighters in Calgary, Alberta, responded to a 300-acre wildfire in the southeastern portion of the city (11); and firefighters in Winnipeg, Manitoba, battled a wildfire Saturday afternoon that may have been started by a bonfire (12). Young people found out some things about wildfires from fire officials conducting meetings around Port Talbot, Wales, UK (13); but thousands of firefighters struggled to contain grass fires raging across North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region before high winds arrived (14). The religious tradition of setting fires to India's Mt. Arunachala is beginning to have a negative impact on the ecosystem (15); even as the Forestry Minister visits the Tirumala Hills in Andhra Pradesh to view an area of 500 ha burned by wildfires earlier this week (16). And finally, firefighters in Eastgate, Ohio, performed a tricky duckling extrication operation using, appropriately enough, duct tape!

(1) Wildfire survival: Awareness week a time to recognize threat, promote action

(2) "Paltry sum of money" available to settle Colorado wildfire lawsuits

(3) Fire officials mark anniversary of Oak Hill fire with warnings, rules for fire safety

(4) Filmmaker Linklater sues insurer over denied Bastrop County wildfire claim

(5) Neptune Aviation Services BAe 146 Pilot Training

(6) Maine Forest Service, local fire crews busy fighting 15 wildfires

(7) Work ongoing in Brimfield State Forest to minimize forest fire danger

(8) Dedham firefighters return to scene of massive brush fire

(9) Firefighters douse brush fire in Lakewood

(10) Why have we seen so many wildfires this spring?

(11) Wildfire in Calgary's S.E.

(12) Firefighters battle grassfire near Woodgreen Place

(13) Forest fire talks

(14) Thousands battle fires in Inner Mongolia

(15) Mt. Arunachala devastated by forest fire - Tiruvannamalai

(16) Minister to visit Tirupati to monitor forest fire

(17) Firefighters rescue ducklings in Eastgate