WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 101712

In Southern California, Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management reported a rapidly-expanding wildfire along Highway 154 that drew the attention of eight air-tankers (1); the next article providing a map of the 10-acre blaze (2); and weather conditions across eastern San Diego County will make for a tense two-day period for firefighters (3); while the next article takes a look at lessons learned from fire sieges of the past (4); but Sacramento braced for wildfires as heat and wind increased across the region (5); while firefighters in Santa Cruz put out a small wildfire above a baseball field (6); even as lower temperatures allowed Mendocino National Forest to reduce fire restrictions (7). Fire restrictions have also been eased in Jackson County after the Oregon Department of Forestry proclaimed the end to the wildfire season (8); with Deschutes National Forest lifting fire restrictions as well (9). As a wildfire in Arizona's Tonto National Forest reached 150 acres in size, officials were forced to close portions of the forest (10). A summary of wildfire activity in Colorado is provided by the next article (11); where a 60-acre wildfire was reported in the San Juan National Forest (12); US Forest Service offering tips for visitors to the Four Corners region as several wildfires burn there (13). As the official wildfire season comes to an end, fire crews in Idaho's Boise National Forest are planning to start a few of their own! (14) A firefighter who will be given the 2012 Montana Wildfire Heroes award is profiled in the next article (15); but with the onset of high winds today and tomorrow, fire officials in both North and South Dakota are warning residents of the wildfire danger (16). Wisconsin is making $575,000 in grants available to 220 fire departments to help with wildland fire prevention/fighting (17); while a cold front moving through Kansas has the National Weather Service warning of an increase in wildfires west of Junction City (18). Firefighters in New Jersey credited damp ground and no wind with helping them quickly contain a small wildfire outside of Aberdeen (19); Georgia Forestry Commission reminding property owners that in addition to putting out fires, they also start them to help reduce fuel (20). As Palestinian militants lob rockets into Israel, the Israeli State Comptroller felt that not enough was being done to prepare for the resultant wildfires (21). NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer camera provides a striking photo of wildfires across India (22); while firefighters in New Zealand managed to rope in a 100-hectare bushfire before it reached conservation land (23). The chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia discusses the bushfire outlook Down Under in the next article (24). Although cooler conditions and moderate winds were helping Queensland Fire and Rescue firefighters battle a bushfire outside of Euleilah, homeowners may still be forced to evacuate (25); meanwhile, another blaze outside of Brisbane was burning in Karawatha Forest (26). Even though lightning was blamed for some bushfires west of Gloucester, New South Wales, it appears that an arsonist is also at work in the area (27); the Rural Fire Service Commissioner pleading with homeowners to prepare for what is being billed as the worst bushfire season in decades (28); even as smoke from a 21-hectare controlled burn in Lane Cove National Park sullies the skies of Sydney (29). An update on two firefighters injured battling a wildfire outside of Albany, Western Australia, is provided by the next article (30). And finally, New Zealand's Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority is being advised to take its lead from an unlikely source: Australia's bushfire recovery programs!

(1) Fire Near Painted Cave

(2) MAP: Wildfire in Santa Barbara foothills leads to evacuations

(3) Weather raising risk of wildfire in East County

(4) Lessons from 2003, 2007 wildfires

(5) Heat, wind in Sacramento area prompt warning of heightened wildfire danger

(6) Firefighters douse wildfire at Harvey West Park

(7) Mendocino National Forest to lift some fire restrictions

(8) Wildfire Season Over For Jackson County

(9) Fire restrictions lifted in forests

(10) Wildfire forces closure of section of Tonto National Forest

(11) Fires burning in Colorado, as conditions set to worsen on Wednesday

(12) Fire on Missionary Ridge

(13) Forest Service reports several new fires in Four Corners area

(14) Boise National Forest prepares to start prescribed burns

(15) CBHS graduate receives ‘Wildfire Heroes’ award

(16) N.D., S.D. officials warn of fire danger

(17) DNR announces grants for forest and wildland fire suppression

(18) Conditions west of Junction City ripe for wildfires

(19) Firefighters extinguish Aberdeen brush fire

(20) GA Forestry Reminds Public Of Services: "We Do More Than Just Put Out Fires"

(21) 'Despite threats, not enough done to boost firefighters'

(22) Fires in Northern India

(23) Bush fire threatens conservation land

(24) Bushfire risk much higher this season: Insurance Council

(25) Residents urged to put plan in place as fire flares

(26) Bushfire in Brisbane's south

(27) RFS suspects 'firebug' at work near Gloucester

(28) Firefighters plea with homeowners

(29) Bushfire reduction to cause Sydney smoke

(30) Firefighter critical, bushfire extinguished

(31) Be more like Australia, report says