WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 073112

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported that one of their inmate firefighters assigned to a fire camp in the Angeles National Forest was missing (1); a snapshot of wildfires in Northern and Central California being provided by the next item (2); where a pair of wildfires have scorched 1,300 acres in the Plumas National Forest (3); while the executive officer of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy expounds on how luck and $13 million spared some towns from a recent wildfire (4); but an auto accident sparked a two-acre wildfire in El Dorado County (5); meantime, quick work by firefighters in Los Gatos is being credited with staving off a potential disaster when a 3-acre wildfire broke out in Belgatos Park (6). In Washington state, Umatilla National Forest has enacted fire restrictions to reduce the danger of wildfires (7); while the next story takes a look at the efforts of New Mexico State University's John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center to raise seedlings that will one day reforest burn areas in the state (8). Officials in Colorado's San Juan National Forest are easing fire restrictions (9); but an 1,100-acre lightning-sparked wildfire burning in Idaho's Salmon-Challis National Forest is 0% contained (10). Wildfire activity across Utah is the focus of the next article (11); where health officials are concerned about the impact of wildfire smoke on the health of people with lung disease (12). A home and three trailers went up in smoke in a wildfire that burned near Stillwater, Oklahoma (13); farmers being forced to release their livestock to save them from being burned (14); but firefighters in Owasso made quick work of a small grass fire (15). A number of new wildfires have cropped up in Wyoming (16); where Wildfire NOTD subscriber Mead Gruver, a Reporter for the Associated Press, followed up on yesterday's release of a RAND study on how best to upgrade US Forest Service's heavy air-tanker fleet (17). A wildfire in Montana's Bob Marshall Wilderness has expanded to 3,000 acres in size (18); while National Weather Service issued wildfire warnings for much of that state (19). A wildfire burning near Medora, North Dakota, has closed a portion of the popular Maah Daah Hey Trail (20); and in the aftermath of a wildfire which scorched 76,242 acres, Nebraska is stuck with a $4.5 million suppression bill (21). Heading to Canada, firefighters quickly squelched a small grass fire outside of Langford, British Columbia (22); while Portage la Prairie is playing host to evacuees from northern Manitoba, where fires continue to burn (23). A small wildfire burned on the outskirts of Rome, Italy (24); and firefighters along with military personnel grappled with a 2,000-decare (~500-acre) wildfire burning near the town of Bryagovo, Bulgaria (25). Although firefighters have made considerable progress battling wildfires in Russia's Far East, continued heat could spawn more (26); while a wildfire in the Republic of Georgia's Vashlovani National Park has burned over 1000 ha (27). Although Victoria, Australia's, Emergency Services Minister says that they have made considerable progress in implementing the Royal Bushfire Commission recommendations, Opposition leaders say that not enough controlled burns have been implemented (28); and following bushfires that scorched 500,000 sq. km. in Central Australia, a new report was critical of Bushfires NT firefighters to the fires (29). And finally, we have a cautionary tale from the Mediterranean island of Crete for fire voyeurs: help put out the fire, don't merely film it!

(1) Inmate escapes from fire camp in Angeles National Forest

(2) Firefighters battle blazes across state

(3) Plumas wildfires burn 1,300 acres, close trail

(4) Viewpoints: Luck, $13 million helped save towns from Robbers fire

(5) El Dorado Hills woman hospitalized after Jeep wreck ignites fire

(6) Firefighters' quick response helps avert potential disaster

(7) Summer fire restrictions starting to kick in on area forests

(8) NMSU forestry research center assist with restoration of wildfire damaged forests

(9) San Juan National Forest lifts fire restrictions

(10) UPDATE: Out Of Control Forest Fire Burning Near Stanley

(11) Lightning-sparked Utah wildfires keep crews scrambling

(12) Wildfire takes toll on Utahn with lung disease

(13) UPDATE: Wildfire continues to burn near Stillwater

(14) Wildfires, drought threaten horse farms

(15) Local Firefighters Battle Grass Fire

(16) More new wildfires in Wyoming

(17) RAND: Put water scoopers at core of firefighting

(18) Wilderness fires merge, cover thousands of acres

(19) Wildfire conditions prime, warn officials

(20) Wildfire closes part of trail in ND Badlands

(21) Bill from Nebraska wildfires likely to exceed $4M

(22) Quick response averts forest fire

(23) Forest fire evacuees staying in Portage

(24) Bushfire in northern Rome

(25) Wildfire Gets Dangerously Close to S Bulgarian Village

(26) 24 hours in the area of forest fires in Siberia had fallen in 1.3 times

(27) Bushfire in Vashlovani National Park

(28) Black Saturday targets 'not being met'

(29) Review critical of bushfire response

(30) Greek farmer shoots, injures 2 fire spectators