WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 081612

Wildfires continue to blaze across the western US (1); a photo spread from the Washington Post showing some shots from the firelines (2). A summary of wildfire activity across California, where Marine and Navy helicopters helped battle blazes in San Diego County, is provided by the next article (3); Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and Congressmen Adam Schiff and Buck McKeon hailed a decision by USFS to allow federal firefighting aircraft to once again operate at night over Southern California's national forests (4); but the plight of the DC-10 VLATs is touched upon in an article by Wildfire NOTD subscriber Rich Brooks, a reporter for the San Bernardino Press-Enterprise, who interviewed the Ten Tanker LLC owner, Wildfire NOTD subscriber Rick Hatton (5); firefighters bringing a 108-acre wildfire burning northeast of Sacramento to 90% containment (6); but the strain on local resources as strike teams are sent to fires in other parts of the state is examined by an article from Salinas (7); and the weather forecast isn't encouraging (8); the following article taking us on a tour of a fire camp at the Lake Almanor Picnic Area (9); even as fire fee notices go out to residents of Solano County (10). An update on wildfires in Oregon is provided by the next item (11); a 675-square-mile wildfire which crossed into Oregon from Nevada now reaching 68% containment (12). Firefighters have brought the 22,000-acre wildfire burning outside of Cle Elum, Washington, to 25% containment (13); but a 7,800-acre wildfire is nearing Grand Coulee Dam (14); an Op-Ed piece arguing that US Forest Service is behind the times on forest practices which have led to such devastating wildfires (15); but in the meantime, Washington state is getting a real deal on inmate firefighter salaries! (16) Current wildfire conditions in Idaho, where a 68,000-acre wildfire is burning, have prompted the governor to activate the National Guard to help (17); and residents of two towns to pack up for another evacuation (18); the following article providing a summary of wildfire activity across Utah (19). US Forest Service will be commemorating the 75th anniversary of a deadly wildfire in Wyoming's Shoshone National Forest which killed 15 firefighters (20); while Virginia Department of Forestry has dispatched wildland firefighting crews to the firelines in the West (21). In Canada, British Columbia's Wildfire Management Branch showed that even rough terrain was no obstacle to inventive firefighters as they rappelled down from a helicopter to battle a five-hectare wildfire burning on a mountainside near Squamish (22). Tourism experts in Spain are concerned about the impact recent wildfires will have on the tourism industry (23); and as wildfires continue to burn out of control in the Canary Islands, several suspects have been detained (24); while wildfires in Southern Europe continued to multiply, with blazes reported in Italy, Greece, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Albania (25); and Russian military helicopters were in action over wildfires in Tomsk oblast (26). A 30-year veteran firefighter has been appointed to head Western Australia's Office of Bushfire Risk Management (27); but a parliamentary committee has condemned Tourism WA and the organizers of an ultramarathon in which runners were severely burned when a bushfire burned across their course (28). And finally, Victoria's Country Fire Authority, already in trouble over cancer-causing chemicals used at a training facility, compounded the problem by calling the family of a deceased firefighter to check on his health!

(1) Wildfires roast western states

(2) Residents evacuate as wildfires rage through the West

(3) Over 8,000 firefighters battle blazes across California

(4) USFS to allow night aerial firefighting in S. Cal

(5) DC-10s fighting fires — and economic uncertainty

(6) Wildfire near Pilot Hill close to being contained

(7) Some firefighting resources in local area stretched thin

(8) CA firefighters brace for thunderstorms

(9) Camps: Firefighting needs a small city for support

(10) Firefighting fee coming for thousands of Solano County residents

(11) Buckhead wildfires near Oakridge brought under control

(12) Nevada half of wildfire nearly contained; Oregon half left

(13) Progress reported against Cle Elum wildfire

(14) Wildfire burning near Grand Coulee Dam

(15) Taylor Bridge fire demonstrates need for better forest practices

(16) WA prison firefighters earn 62 cents an hour

(17) Thursday wildfire update: Governor activates Nat'l Guard

(18) Idaho towns pack up as massive wildfire nears

(19) Crews hemming in southwestern Utah wildfires

(20) Forest Service commemorates fire

(21) Virginia firefighters combat wildfires in Western U.S.

(22) Forest fire blazes near Squamish

(23) Spanish Tourism Pros Concerned About Effect of Wildfires

(24) Spain: People detained in Canary Island wildfires probe, but cause of blazes undetermined

(25) EFFIS - Current Situation

(26) Novosibirsk military vertolëtčiki came back with the extinguishing of forest fires in the Tomsk Region

(27) Firefighter to oversee DEC burns program

(28) Committee slams ultramarathon organisers RacingThePlanet

(29) Family of dead firefighter stunned as CFA contact them to check his health as part of Fiskville scandal