WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE  - 060313

First up today, Wildfire NOTD subscriber Mikel Robinson, Executive Director of the International Association of Wildland Fire, is asking for input on future wildfire topics that the organization can address in workshops and conferences (1). As fire crews stood guard in the Southern California communities of Lake Hughes and Lake Elizabeth, cooler weather allowed an army of over 2,000 firefighters to bring the 34 mi.² Powerhouse Fire to 20% containment (2); a CBS News video covering the evacuation of thousands of residents in the path of the fire (3); a Los Angeles Times article taking us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Powerhouse Base Camp (4); FEMA announcing that it will reimburse 75% of the firefighting costs (5); smoke from the wildfire, and another in Lovell Canyon, Nevada, polluting the air in faraway Las Vegas (6). Officials in Arizona's Tonto National Forest are reminding recreational target shooters of the wildfire danger their hobby poses (7); New Mexico's Tres Lagunas Fire, which passed the 6,000-acre mark over the weekend, continued to burn uncontained (8). US Forest Service is battling a 29-acre wildfire in Colorado's Roosevelt National Forest (9). US Forest Service has allocated $800,000 to apply wheat straw to 1,200 acres in Idaho's Boise National Forest to repair damage done by 2012's Trinity Ridge Fire (10); residents of Lower Stanley bringing in Canadian experts to advise them on how best to protect their town from wildfires (11); federal fire crews lighting several controlled burns across the state to reduce fuel for the summer wildfires (12). As several wildfires continued to rage in Northwest Florida, forestry officials are cautioning people who plan to light outdoor fires (13). Wildfires were reported in Santana de Cambas and Grândola, Portugal, Librino and Erice, Italy, Kocaeli, Turkey, and outside of Agios Therapon and Anarita Paphos on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus (14); while an Italian photographer captured some impressive photos of aircraft battling a wildfire in the Italian province of Salerno (15); a deliberately-set wildfire scorching several acres in Israel's West Bank (16). A report on Victoria, Australia's, 600-hectare Hallston Bushfire found that the controlled burn which started the blaze was begun under marginal conditions (17); while VicForests Director of Corporate Affairs discusses the fate of Leadbeater's possum, which was impacted by the 2009 bushfires, in the next article (18). A survivor of the Coonabarabran, New South Wales, bushfires teamed up with a local school to raise funds for bushfire survivors (19). Following January's bushfires, Tasmanian children between the ages of nine and 18 are being asked to participate in a survey that aims to determine how the bushfires impacted them psychologically (20); a radio segment providing more details on the University of Tasmania's study (21); while the state government announced a $1.3 million Social Recovery Plan in a press release (22); the Tasman Landcare organization being given a grant to study the impact of bushfires on serrated tussock weeds (23). And finally, Costa Mesa, California, firefighters were led on a merry chase by a runaway parrot!

(1) Take this survey

(2) Cooler temps aid crews fighting Calif. wildfire

(3) Powerhouse wildfire forcing thousands to evacuate

(4) Firefighters at Powerhouse fire base camp rest

(5) FEMA Will Reimburse 75 Percent In Powerhouse Fire Firefighting Costs

(6) Officials warn of bad air in Vegas from wildfires

(7) Forest visitors cautioned on gunfire

(8) Air assault bombards Tres Lagunas Fire

(9) Fire burning in Roosevelt Forest human-caused

(10) U.S. Forest Service restoring Trinity Ridge area after 2012 fire

(11) Stanley officials work to protect town from wildfires

(12) Crews hope ‘prescribed fires’ will pay off later this summer

(13) Forestry officials urging caution with outdoor fire

(14) EFFIS - Current Situation

(15) Incredible pictures show how skilled pilots risk their lives to put out ravaging forest fires in

(16) Fire rips through Palestinian lands in West Bank

(17) Bushfire review finds burn lit in marginal conditions

(18) Seeking to protect Leadbeater's possum

(19) Bushfire victim lends support to Kinross Wolaroi School appeal

(20) Bushfire impact study

(21) UTAS researches the positives after the January bushfires

(22) $1.3 million Social Recovery Plan for bushfire affected communities

(23) Regeneration of weed after bushfires

(24) Lola leads firefighters on a chase