WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 100412

In a year in which the record for number of acres burned by wildfires in the US (8.4 million) was tied, a scientist and analyst at Climate Central takes a look at the forecast for wildfire activity across the West (1). An article from Southern California provides a first-person perspective on the fire danger in Topanga Canyon (2); another from Ventura County touching on wildfire's impact on the environment and communities (3); while firefighters quickly snuffed a 10-acre wildfire outside of Lakehead yesterday (4); and a 195-acre wildfire in Mendocino County is now 90% contained (5); the Department of Homeland Security continuing to work with CAL FIRE to test out new Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), the article including a video which shows California National Guard aircrews training with CAL FIRE firefighters (6). The National Weather Service has issued Red Flag warnings for the western parts of Oregon and Washington state (7); while classes have been canceled on Washington state's Colville Indian Reservation due to a 5,000-acre wildfire near by (8); a photo collage of wildfire activity in that state provided by the next item (9). New Mexico's Gila National Forest, pummeled by four months of wildfires and floods, is reopening its Catwalk National Recreation Area (10). Air-tankers were unleashed on a wildfire that has burned 500 acres near Rifle, Colorado (11); but a man accused of impersonating a wildland firefighter at two fires in that state is seeking employment elsewhere (12). A teenage firefighter charged with setting a 440-acre wildfire in Idaho is out of jail on bond (13). A 2,500-acre wildfire near Cedar City, Utah, is now 50% contained (14); the following article chronicling the efforts of schoolkids to get lawmakers in that state to link climate change with wildfires (15). As FEMA opened their Cleveland County, Oklahoma, disaster center, some wildfire survivors are still living in tents (16). In the aftermath of wildfires which burned 1 million acres statewide, officials in Montana fear that burn areas could suffer flooding in the spring (17); that article followed by a pair of Op-Ed pieces that take two different tacks on the topic of wildfires (18)(19); meanwhile, US Forest Service is asking for public input on a forest health project in the Flathead National Forest (20). As the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for northern Minnesota, wildland firefighters can take a break from wildfires which have cost the state $800,000 to suppress (21); while about 400 evacuees were allowed to return to areas where nearly a dozen homes were destroyed (22). Louisiana Forestry Association honored a US Forest Service employee who works at the Kisatchie National Forest with a Smoky Bear award at their convention (23). Heading to Canada, a man believed to have accidentally started a wildfire near Kamloops, British Columbia, was severely injured when he was hit by a train fleeing from the blaze (24); while the University of Alberta will be working with national partners in a coordinated wildland fire research project (25); but as evacuees were being allowed to return home, the next article takes a look at the fire situation in Manitoba (26); and Québec's Société De Protection Des Forêts Contre Le Feu (SOPFEU) reported that human error contributed to the 36,462 hectares of forest burned in that province this year (27). In Europe, wildfires were reported in Macedonia and Turkey yesterday (28). A straw and steel house constructed in Victoria, Australia, has withstood tests designed to determine its survivability in a bushfire (29); but Country Fire Authority officials warned that fast-moving grass fires will be a danger this summer (30). New South Wales' Rural Fire Service firefighters and heli-tankers battled a bushfire in rugged terrain that forced the evacuation of about 100 schoolchildren (31); the National Parks Service reiterating the bushfire danger that state faces this summer (32). And finally, we have the profile of a US Forest Service scientist whose 300-page treatise on best practice approaches to mitigate potential causes and effects of forest fires will have an impact on wildfires nationwide!

(1) A forecast for the American West: hot and hotter

(2) Statewide Fire Fees Focus on Prevention

(3) Intervals between wildfires are shorter

(4) Fire in Lakehead burns 10 acres before containment

(5) Flynn Fire acreage adjusted down; full containment expected Thursday

(6) DHS Tests Next-Gen PPE for Wildland Firefighters

(7) High wildfire danger to western Washington, Oregon

(8) Wildfire burns 2 homes near Omak, cancels classes

(9) Photos: Wildfires Rage In Washington State

(10) Catwalk reopening after fire, floods

(11) Air resources to take over attack on Hwy 13 wildfire

(12) Accused firefighter impersonator wants new job

(13) Firefighter charged with arson posts bond

(14) Crews hope to contain S. Utah wildfire by tonight

(15) Lawmaker takes up climate concerns in wildfire bill

(16) Wildfire Victims Turnout For Opening Of Cleveland County Disaster Center

(17) Wildfires could lead to worse MT spring floods

(18) Viewpoint: Need a new plan for dealing with forest fires

(19) Viewpoint: Occasional wildfires are necessary

(20) Forest Service seeks comments on fire risk reduction project

(21) Wildfire fighters welcome winter storm

(22) Minnesota wildfire evacuees return home; smoke blankets north

(23) Kisatchie National Forest's Caldwell honored for work in preventing fires

(24) Man hit by train after fleeing bush fire near Kamloops

(25) University of Alberta partner in new national forest-fire research effort

(26) Wildfire evacuation orders lifted for dozens of residents

(27) Human error to blame for more forest fires last summer in Quebec

(28) EFFIS - Current Situation

(29) Sustainable straw house passes the bushfire test

(30) Rain limits fire risk but danger in grass

(31) NSW schoolkids evacuated from bushfire

(32) Bushfire danger returns to mid north coast

(33) Latina pioneer fights forest fires with science