WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 082212

Fires across the West are having a negative impact on private aerial firefighting fleets, as Wildfire NOTD subscribers Dan Snyder, President of Neptune Aviation, and Tom Eversole, Executive Director of American Helicopter Services & Aerial Firefighting Association, discuss in our first item today (1). National Public Radio provides an update on the Ponderosa Fire, which has scorched 38 mi.² and destroyed 50 buildings in Northern California (2); another segment from NPR sharing some disturbing figures on how much wildfires have destroyed in the past 10 years (3); while officials at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (and CAL FIRE) are worried what a dwindling population of inmate fire crews may mean for firefighting across the Golden State (4). As wildfires continue to ravage northwestern US states, some believe massive wildfires could become more common there in the future (5); where scientists from Oregon studying the ecosystem in Northern California's Lassen Volcanic National Park were forced to evacuate due to wildfires (6); while residents of Cle Elum, Washington, praised the efforts of firefighters in protecting their community from wildfires (7); and volunteers are sending much-needed pet food to wildfire survivors in that region (8). Two cousins who admitted to setting a wildfire in Arizona's Apache Sitgreaves National Forest are facing fines and jail time (9). An update on wildfires burning in Idaho is provided by the next article (10); followed by one that shows that lightning strikes aren't helping the situation any (11). Fire officials in Utah were hopeful that incoming storms would help them contain wildfires still burning in that state (12); which could help wild horses and burros, some of the 31,700 that roam western plains, which have been impacted heavily by the damage done by drought and wildfires to their pastureland (13). A new grass fire was reported in Oklahoma's wildfire-ravage Cleveland County (14); but the U.S. Air Force has agreed to pay $83,000 to a New Jersey town to compensate them for suppression costs from a wildfire caused by an F-16 fighter's flares (15). In Canada, British Columbia Forest Service firefighters tackled a 3.5-hectare wildfire near Oyama (16); lightning being blamed for several wildfires that have cropped up in that province (17); one blaze near Clinton forcing the evacuation of 100 residents (18); an electronic malfunction forcing the emergency landing of a Conair air-tanker at Williams Lake (19); and the wildfire situation in Ontario is summarized by the next article (20). A pair of items from the UK look at some of the factors contributing to forest fires across the US and Europe (21)(22); while in the Mediterranean basin, wildfires were reported in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Albania, and the North African nation of Algeria (23); where Spanish firefighters were beset by numerous wildfires (24); one of which forced the evacuation of 300 people near Avila (25); and some cities in the Balkans resorted to putting water tanks in city squares to support firefighting efforts (26). Civil Defense firefighters snuffed a forest fire near Jamhour in the Middle Eastern nation of Lebanon (27); and firefighters in Jordan have been dealing with arson-caused wildfires (28). Heading to Australia, decertification of a Bushfire Safer Place in the Victorian town of Halls Gap by Country Fire Authority has left that community with no bushfire refuge (29). Following early-season bushfires in Queensland, Rural Fire Service officials said that people who start illegal fires could face on-the-spot fines (30); in the meantime, police began investigations of a score of wildfires that broke out in Clarence Valley (31). And finally, during Colorado's Waldo Canyon Fire, at least one commercial operation suffered losses: a 22-acre marijuana plantation in the Pike National Forest!

(1) Western Fires Stretching Aerial Firefighters Thin

(2) Wildfire Destroys 50 Buildings In N. California

(3) Wildfires Have Burned Nearly 7 Million Acres So Far, Up 6 Percent From Last Year

(4) Inmate firefighting force to dwindle

(5) Northwest Wildfires Could Become More Common

(6) CA fires foil ecosystem study

(7) Cle Elum neighbors: 'What these firefighters risk is amazing'

(8) Pet food donated to victims of Cle Elum wildfire

(9) Sentencing set for 2 on Arizona wildfire charges

(10) Officials: Three Idaho Wildfires Could Burn Into Fall

(11) Lightning Makes Job Tough for Firefighters in Idaho

(12) Utah crews hope storms will help snuff wildfires

(13) Drought and wildfires threaten Utah's wild horses

(14) Firefighters Called To Grass Fire In Cleveland County

(15) Air Force to pay town for forest fire

(16) Forestry crews tackling blaze in the hills above Oyama

(17) Wildfires burn in backcountry near Fairmont

(18) Wildfire near Big Bar Creek prompts evacuation of 100

(19) A few tense moments for air tanker in Williams Lake

(20) Tuesday update on forest fire situation

(21) Why are so many forests on fire?

(22) Heatwave Fuels Wildfires Across Europe

(23) EFFIS - Current Situation

(24) Spanish firefighters struggle with persistent forest fires

(25) Fire in Spain leads to evacuation of 300

(26) Balkans Heat Wave Fuels Forest Fires in Bosnia

(27) Civil Defense puts out forest fire near Jamhour

(28) Jordan- Forest fires should be addressed

(29) Halls Gap to lose bushfire place of last resort

(30) Fines for bushfire rule breakers

(31) Police investigate Clarence Valley bushfires

(32) Colorado firefighters found large pot garden during Waldo Canyon fire