Firebomber Publications Blog

Wildfire News Of The Day (the Firebomber Publications blog) provides comprehensive international wildfire news. Subscribers include over 10,000 personnel from fire agencies, contractors, and government entities on five continents. "BEST NEWSLETTER I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY 32 YEARS IN THE FIRE SERVICE" - San Diego Fire Department Chief Brian Fennessy.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 062812

A new international wildfire news site has been launched by EIN (1). In Ventura County, California, firefighters from Los Padres National Forest contained a 690-acre wildfire (2); while nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base dispatched its elite Vandenberg Hot Shots crew to fight wildfires in Colorado (3). In Arizona, Flagstaff City Council will be asking residents to vote on a $10 million bond to conduct forest thinning around the city's water supply to reduce the damage that could be done by wildfires (4); and Wildfire NOTD subscriber Rob Rosovich, Director of Technical Operations for GelTech Solutions, passed along a press release about the effectiveness of their product fighting a wildfire outside of Corrales, New Mexico (5). Colorado's governor defended President Obama in regards to the heavy air-tanker shortage (6); the next article revisiting the salient points of that shortage (7); and the one that follows taking a closer look at the MAFFS systems used by military C-130s (8); but despite tightly stretched resources in Colorado, where hundreds of homes have been destroyed and tens of thousands evacuated, US Forest Service Aviation Chief Tom Harbour said that he remains "cautiously confident" (9); and as evacuees streamed out of Colorado Springs fleeing the Waldo Canyon Fire, Harbour, assured people that firefighters would get all the air-tanker help they needed (10); among those evacuees, 40 members of the US Olympic Committee decided to postpone their meeting until everybody can return home (11); however, as 1,900 evacuees from Fort Collins were allowed to return home, the suppression cost for the High Park Fire has been estimated at over $33 million (12); while the Red Cross continues to receive donations to help evacuees (13); and the silver lining massive wildfires cause, in the form of technical innovation, is examined by the next article (14); one of those new technologies being the ability to better map wildfires (15); but despite suspicions that climate change is impacting the Colorado wildfires, the next article takes a look at the difficulty of pinning specific wildfires on Global Warming (16); while the Federal Bureau of Investigation will be working with El Paso County officials probing the cause of the Waldo Canyon Fire (17); but the wildfires may impact the 90th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race if they are not brought under control by July 8th (18); firefighters hoping that cooler temperatures might bring some relief as they battle wildfires across Colorado (19). A Christian Science Monitor article discusses wildfires in Colorado from a parent's perspective (20); followed by a National Geographic article in which a writer/firefighter who is in the process of publishing a book about global wildfire management discusses the wildfire situation in Rocky Mountain forests (21). Firefighters in Utah felt besieged by numerous wildfires as new blazes broke out across the state (22); forcing partial closure of Zion National Park (23). Firefighters in Randolph County, Texas, battled a wildfire outside of Amarillo that destroyed at least one home (24). Due to the wildfire danger, Montana's Gallatin National Forest will be imposing Stage One fire restrictions on Friday (25); while a number of homes went up in smoke in eastern Montana (26); but weather conditions were actually assisting firefighters with a massive blaze near Ashland that has destroyed 19 homes so far (27); nevertheless, civilians are asked to stay out of the firefighters' way (28). Firefighters are finally getting the upper hand on South Dakota's Crow Peak Fire, which is 80% contained after burning 133 acres (29); while firefighters in the Black Hills were able to bring the 300-acre Dakota Fire to 30% containment yesterday afternoon (30). Firefighters in Le Mars, Iowa, were investigating half a dozen suspicious grass fires (31); and Kansas Division of Emergency Management reported that a pair of wildfires which had burned 5,000 acres in the northwestern part of that state have been extinguished (32). Heat, dry conditions, and wind are worrying homeowners in Lincoln County, Kentucky, about wildfires (33); while a trio of forest fires have been reported in Polk County by Tennessee Division of Forestry (34). Alabama Forestry Commission reported that 700 acres have gone up in smoke across the state in the past week (35); and even residents of Washington DC were smelling smoke from a 250-acre forest fire burning near Skyline Drive (36); while smoke from a 181-acre wildfire burning in Virginia's George Washington National Forest has been reported in Fairfax County (37). A resident of British Columbia, Canada, is charged with an explosion which set off a wildfire on Vancouver Island last month (38); but lightning strikes were blamed for 18 new forest fires in the Northwest Territories (39); while rainfall has been able to knock down several wildfires burning in Labrador (40). Heat and a thick forest carpet have fueled 1,316 fires that have burnt 2,808 hectares in Uttarakhand, India (41); and 20,000 hectares have been scorched in Himachal Pradesh in the last two months (42). Air pollution from a bushfire burning north of Miri, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo, has some local officials concerned (43). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Chuck Bushey, Past President of the International Association of Wildland Fire, sent along an item about 10 forest research scholarships being offered by the Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia (44); while Western Australia's government officials stated that bushfire survivors in Margaret River should begin receiving compensation for their losses very soon (45). And finally, firefighters in San Mateo County, California, had to rescue a dog who got a little too enthusiastic about chasing a raccoon up a tree: about 30 feet up the tree!

(1) EIN News Launches Wildfire News Today

(2) 690-acre wildfire in Ventura County is contained

(3) Firefighters hit the front lines

(4) Forest thinning closer to ballot

(5) GelTech's FireIce used to Control New Mexico Wildfire

(6) Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper defends Obama over reduced air tanker fleet

(7) As wildfires rage, questions arise about lack of air tankers to fight the flames

(8) Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System crews eager to fight fire another day

(9) Colorado wildfire destroys hundreds of homes

(10) Wildfire victims crowd shelters as fight continues

(11) Colorado wildfires force USOC to postpone meeting

(12) Colorado wildfire: 1,900 evacuees from High Park Fire near Fort Collins to return home

(13) Red Cross Receives $90,000 Donation From Kaiser Permanente to Support Wildfire Relief

(14) Unexpected legacy of wildfires and other emergency events: innovation

(15) Colorado wildfires provide showcase for new mapping technology

(16) Is Global Warming Fueling Colorado Wildfires?

(17) Raging Wildfires in Colorado prompts FBI investigation

(18) Colorado Forest Fires Delay Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

(19) Weather may bring some relief from raging Colorado wildfires

(20) Colorado wildfires: How prepared a parent would you be?

(21) In Rocky Mountain Forests, More Fires and More People

(22) Utah firefighters, resources stretched, battle new blazes

(23) Wildfires force evacuations, closure of Zion National Park

(24) Firefighters have Timbercreek Canyon fire under control

(25) Stage One fire restrictions take effect Friday in Gallatin National Forest

(26) Wildfires torch dozens of homes in eastern Montana

(27) Weather aids in firefighting efforts against Ash Creek Fire

(28) Stay out of firefighters’ way!

(29) Crow Peak firefighting has "turned the corner"

(30) The Dakota Fire reaches 300 acres

(31) Firefighters In Le Mars Investigation Suspicious Grass Fires

(32) Wildfires in NW Kansas reported extinguished

(33) Forest Fire In Lincoln County Worries Homeowners

(34) Blazes plague Polk’s forests

(35) Wildfire near Chilton/Autauga Co. line deemed arson

(36) What’s that smell west of Washington, D.C.? Forest fire burning near Skyline Drive

(37) Smoke Drifting into Fairfax County from Shenandoah Area Forest Fires

(38) Man charged in Vancouver Island forest fire blast

(39) 18 new forest fires started Tuesday in the N.W.T.

(40) Rain eases fire concerns in Labrador

(41) A fiery summer in Uttarakhand

(42) Fires ravage 20,000 hectares of Himachal forests in two months

(43) Piasau assemblyman concerned about hazy atmosphere

(44) University of Melbourne PhD Research Scholarships

(45) Margaret River compensation offers to start

(46) Atherton: Firefighters rescue dog that chased raccoon up tree

Labels: , , , , , ,

 
www.hypersmash.com