WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 102412

Even though wildfires continue to burn across the western US, this is already the second worst wildfire season in history (1). The National Weather Service is forecasting Santa Ana winds for Southern California beginning this evening (2); where US Forest Service is finding new uses for harvested timber (3); while fire experts will meet at the state capitol today to discuss the $15 million Reading Fire, which burned 28,000 acres in Lassen Volcanic National Park this past summer (4); but although fire officials warned of a persistent fire danger in Northern California, fire restrictions have been lifted on the Klamath National Forest (5); as well as the Plumas National Forest (6). Portions of Oregon's Deschutes National Forest have been reopened following the Pole Creek Fire (7); in the meantime, the Board of Forestry will be having a meeting in early November to discuss fire protection issues statewide (8). Arizona's Coconino National Forest will conduct several controlled burns near Flagstaff today (9); and the Bureau of Indian Affairs will be doing much the same thing in the White Mountains (10). Fire crews are keeping tabs on a 250-acre wildfire burning in New Mexico's Carson National Forest (11). An update on two wildfires burning in Colorado is provided by the next item (12); where a wind-driven 1,700-acre wildfire has forced evacuations of hundreds of homes west of Pueblo (13); but fire crews are hoping that snow will help squelch a 1,070-acre wildfire burning in Rocky Mountain National Park (14); the next article taking a closer look at Colorado Springs Utilities' Wildland Fire Team (15); a new report showing that officials performed efficient evacuations of 26,000 people in the early hours of the Waldo Canyon Fire (16). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Tom Eversole, Executive Director of the American Helicopter Services & Aerial Firefighting Association, sent along an announcement about their upcoming meeting in Boise, Idaho, in late November (17); and officials in Summit County, Utah, are running into difficulties collecting $3,000 to pay suppression costs for a wildfire started by someone playing with fireworks (18). Hundreds of firefighters attended a wildfire academy held on the grounds of Camp Swift in Bastrop County, Texas (19); Wyoming's state forester looking back on one of the worst wildfire seasons on record in the next article (20). The Alabama Forestry Commission allayed fears of a wildfire outside of Montgomery, saying it was probably a controlled burn by a property owner (21); while US Forest Service has released a report on North Carolina's 22,000-acre Croatan National Forest fire, which began as a controlled burn (22). In Australia, Country Fire Authority is compiling a Community Information Guide for Bushfires in which they are asking Victorian property owners for their input (23). Weary firefighters along southeast Queensland's Sunshine Coast continued to battle numerous bushfires (24); some of which may have been deliberately set (25); but a bushfire Watch and Act warning for Ravensbourne has been canceled (26); while in the north, property owners and firefighters alike are hoping that weather conditions don't worsen the bushfire fight around Hughenden (27). Electric utility Western Power said that only half of the $10 million set aside for survivors of the Toodyay, Western Australia, bushfire has been claimed so far (28). And finally, as bushfire season begins in New South Wales, Wildlife ARC is looking for a few good volunteers!

(1) 2012 Wildfire Season Hits 2nd-Largest Area Since 1960s

(2) Dry, gusty Santa Ana winds raise the danger of large wildfires across Southern California

(3) Forest service boosts economy with bundles

(4) Review of Reading fire, procedures

(5) Klamath fire restrictions lifted

(6) Plumas National Forest Fire Restrictions Lifted

(7) Some Pole Creek fire closures lifted

(8) Forestry board to consider fire protection issues

(9) Burns slated for Flagstaff, beyond

(10) Small prescribed fires prevent big wildfires

(11) Crews monitor wildfires burning

(12) FIRE UPDATES: Vallecito, Goblin

(13) Wetmore fire believed to have been caused by wind, power lines, sheriff says

(14) Snow would benefit Fern Lake firefighting efforts

(15) Utilities' trial by fire

(16) Report: Colorado Springs wasn't slow to order Waldo Canyon evacuations

(17) AHSAFA Meeting Notice

(18) Wyoming dad refuses to pay $3,000 bill for Utah wildfire

(19) Hundreds of firefighters learn to tame wildfires

(20) 2012 fire season among worst on record in Wyoming

(21) Forest ranger: Smoke in downtown Montgomery most likely from permitted fire

(22) Rangers: No mistakes handling Croatan National Forest wildfire

(23) Chance to guide bushfire information in Yarra Ranges

(24) Fire crews fight fatigue as they battle southeast Queensland's grass and bush fires

(25) Fires may have been deliberately lit

(26) Ravensbourne bushfire Watch and Act cancelled

(27) Hughenden community battles bush fire

(28) Toodyay fire fund not fully claimed by residents

(29) Wildlife ARC needs more Central Coast carers