WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 050912

A 125-acre wildfire which broke out near the Southern California community of Acton yesterday afternoon was hit with a heavy air-tanker attack (1); and is now fully contained (2); even as CAL FIRE is beefing up resources at its Hollister Air Attack Base for wildfire season (3). Firefighters plan to burn off 1,000 acres in Oregon's Umatilla National Forest, weather permitting (4); while in eastern Washington state, Department of Natural Resources firefighters are mechanically thinning vegetation to cut down on the wildfire danger as summer approaches (5). Arizona State Forestry Division has announced increased fire restrictions on state-owned lands in the southeast (6); the danger underscored by a wildfire along the Mexican border that has scorched 1,200 acres (7). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dan Ware, Fire Information Officer for New Mexico State Forestry, indicated that recent precipitation will bring a temporary reprieve to homeowners around the Lincoln National Forest in the next article (8). A legal Op-Ed piece from Colorado examines the compromise reached by the legislature on lawsuits against the state for wildfire losses in the Lower North Fork Fire (9); while an expert panel will discuss how wildfires are managed today in Breckenridge based on a book about a disastrous wildfire in 1910 to the north (10). Residents of Idaho were reminded that May is Wildfire Awareness Month by Idaho Firewise officials (11); where signs that memorialize 1969's Sundance Fire in the Selkirk Mountains have been unveiled (12). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Kevin Ryan, a Research Forest Ecologist at US Forest Service's Missoula, Montana, Fire Lab, sent along an article about the International Association of Wildland Fire's observance of Global Wildfire Awareness Week (13). Multiple agencies participated in an evacuation drill in communities bordering on South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest yesterday (14); and folks in Mid-Tennessee are preparing for their fire season, which runs between June and October (15). Wildfires are burning in many parts of Florida (16); including a number of lightning-sparked wildfires that have cropped up across Central Florida (17); so Florida Forest Service has set up a hotline for people to report wildfire arsonists in a state which has already seen 1,700 wildfires so far this year, an estimated 20% deliberately set (18); but Caloosahatchee Forestry Center is concerned about budget cuts invoked by the governor which could impact wildfire preparedness in the area (19). A wildfire was reported near Salisbury, New Brunswick, the latest of over 220 wildfires which have burned 300 ha in that Canadian province so far this year (20); while wildfire activity on the Pacific island of Saipan is the focus of the next article (21). A trio of ecologists complained that Victoria, Australia's, plan to burn fuel in remote areas is a "cheap and easy" way to meet burn-off numbers without really protecting communities from bushfires (22); and the Victoria Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by PowerCor over Black Saturday bushfire class action lawsuits (23); but mental health professionals felt that it would be a tough year ahead for bushfire survivors' children (24). A controlled burn near Wirrabara, South Australia, which breached containment lines to burn 600 ha continues to give Country Fire Service firefighters a run for their money (25); while police roadblocks during the November bushfires in Margaret River, Western Australia, are the topic of the next article (26). And finally, another day, another obstacle course, as firefighters battled across the Tough Mudder course on Mount Snow in Vermont!

(1) Firefighters launch aggressive air attack in Acton brush fire

(2) Firefighters watch for hot spots at Acton brush fire

(3) Cal Fire Hollister gets air tanker, plane

(4) National Forest Plans Prescribed Burning

(5) DNR crews clearing way for wildfire season

(6) State forester issues fire restrictions on state-owned lands in southeastern Arizona

(7) Fight continues on School Canyon Fire

(8) Rain Brings Reprieve For NM Forests

(9) Mountain Law: Proposed wildfire legislation a game-changer

(10) ‘The Big Burn' a platform for fire danger discussion in Breckenridge

(11) May is wildfire awareness month

(12) Signs ready to memorialize Sundance Fire

(13) Missoula group seeks global cooperation on fire science

(14) Evacuation drill preps agencies for fire season

(15) Firefighters take aim at hot, dry days ahead

(16) Baldwin Bay fire may keep spreading

(17) Lightning sparks 'sleeper' fires

(18) Officials setup wildfire arson hotline

(19) Clearing program in Lehigh Acres effective

(20) Forest fire rages on near Salisbury

(21) Two brush fires struck near La Fiesta, Paupau Beach

(22) Bushfire prevention 'sham'

(23) Court dismisses appeal over Horsham bushfire

(24) Black Saturday: Bushfire children face 'toughest year'

(25) Bushfire continues to burn in SA

(26) DEC controlled fire roadblocks: police

(27) Local Firefighters Have 'Absolute Ball' In Hellish Competition