WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 082512

A summary of wildfire activity in Northern California is provided by our first article (1); where firefighters brought the 28,098-acre Ponderosa Fire to 71% containment, allowing evacuees to return home (2); strike teams from the University of California, Davis, working some long hours on the firelines (3); the next article discussing how air-tankers saved one small town from destruction (4). As firefighters began mop up operations on the 23,000-acre wildfire burning outside of Cle Elum, Washington, there was a transfer of command (5); a retrospective on that fire being offered by the next article (6); while a small wildfire was reported in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (7); and firelines were being bolstered by new arrivals battling a 37,000-acre wildfire in Wallowa County (8). Following burglaries of homes and vehicles left behind by evacuees during Colorado's Waldo Canyon Fire, one man has been arrested (9); but contributions of time, material, and money is helping wildfire survivors in Creek County, Oklahoma, recover (10). Wildfires in Montana are the topic of the next item (11); a wildfire near Roundup expanding to 10,000 acres in size (12); and at least six blazes were burning in the Flathead National Forest (13). The wildfire situation in North Dakota, where lightning has sparked a number of new wildfires, is provided by the next article (14). Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating a wildfire that broke out near Mill Bay, British Columbia (15); while Parks Canada personnel have buried thermocouples in the ground to study wildfire behavior at a blaze in Kootenay National Park (16); ecologists proclaiming that wildfires in northern British Columbia will help the endangered wood bison by opening up more grazing area (17); and Prince Edward Island-based Tronosjet Maintenance, which modifies BAE 146 aircraft become air-tankers, was in the news as well (18). Wildfires continued to crop up in the Mediterranean Basin, with fires being reported in Italy, Greece, Bosnia, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, and Albania (19); including a major wildfire which burned on the outskirts of Athens, Greece (20); the next article taking a look back on wildfire activity in Greece this year, where some 40,000 ha have been scorched (21); while Serbians were being evacuated as a Russian BE-200 air-tanker swung into action (22). The Indian Ocean island nation of Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Center is worried about the damage being done by wildfires to water reservoirs (23); and firefighters on the Indonesian island of Java are struggling to contain a 40-hectare wildfire burning on the slopes of Mt. Papandayan (24). An ultramarathon runner who was severely injured by a bushfire near Kimberley, Western Australia, will need to have a foot amputated (25). And finally, we have the upside to wildfires: commemorative T-shirts!

(1) Wildfire containment next week, officials say

(2) Ponderosa Fire evacuations lifted

(3) UC Davis campus firefighters headed home after grueling week

(4) Air tankers save town from wildfire

(5) Wildfire officials transfer command

(6) Firefighters raced against the flames

(7) Crews fight small forest fire near Granite Falls

(8) Update: fire burns 37,000 acres; area closure in effect

(9) 1 arrested in burglary of wildfire evacuee's home

(10) Sunday: Wildfire survivors receive outpouring of kindness

(11) Wildfire outside Roundup burns more than 5,000 acres

(12) Delphia fire east of Roundup grows to 10,000 acres

(13) Crews douse 6 new fires on Flathead National Forest

(14) Fires continue to burn in western North Dakota

(15) Bush fire in Mill Bay likely started by partiers – RCMP

(16) Parks Canada to study wildfire behaviour in BC

(17) Northern B.C. fires good for endangered wood bison

(18) Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency: Governments of Canada and PEI Support Aerospace Company Seeking To Expand To Overseas Markets

(19) EFFIS - Current Situation

(20) Forest fire near Athens under partial control

(21) A bad year for forest fires

(22) Serb villages evacuated, wildfires rage unabated

(23) Forest fires affect reservoirs, cause landslides - DMC

(24) Authorities struggle to extinguish forest fires on Mt. Papandayan

(25) Melbourne ultramarathon runner Kate Sanderson who was burned in a bushfire during a race has to have foot amputated

(26) T-shirts give firefighters a Chips souvenir