WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 071613

As the funeral of Granite Mountain Hotshot Kevin Woyjeck nears, an honor guard of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputies stood vigil outside of a Los Angeles County Fire Department station in Bellflower (1); but a 4,700-acre wildfire near the mountain community of Idyllwild is only 10% contained (2); while the fate of a fire lookout tower in Sonoma County is uncertain as the land comes up for sale (3); and although a Supervisor invited residents to the Shasta County Board of Supervisors' Chambers for a teleconference about the controversial state fire fee, he advised them to pay while also recommending they fill out the enclosed protest form (4). The National Weather Service issued Red Flag warnings for Eastern Oregon through Wednesday (5). Two wildfires continued to spread in Washington state (6); but two small blazes in Spokane are being labeled suspicious (7); while firefighters are trying to figure out exactly what sparked another fire in Richland (8). Arizona Division of Forestry has issued a report which describes the situation on June 30th when the Granite Mountain Hotshots were overrun by the Yarnell Hill wildfire, a link to that report being provided by Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dan Ware, Fire Prevention and Outreach Program Manager at New Mexico State Forestry (9); while a musical benefit for the families of those fallen firefighters has sold out (10). The struggles of businesses impacted by Colorado's Black Forest Fire are examined by the next article (11); the tricky problem of getting homeowners to properly protect their property from wildfires being tackled by the one that follows (12). A summary of wildfire activity across Idaho, where high temperatures are inflaming lightning-sparked wildfires, is up next (13); where a number of controlled burns have helped firefighters in Boise National Forest limit the growth of an 800-acre wildfire (14); but high temperatures are taking their toll on firefighters (15). A Montana Public Radio segment discusses the role of human ignorance and arrogance (along with climate change) in the mega-fires that continue to crop up in the West (16). Alaska Fire Service will host “Firewise Film Night” over the next few evenings to educate residents of Fairbanks on the finer points of protecting their homes from wildfires (17); Canadian wildfire smoke causing a red sunrise over Juneau (18). Heading to Canada, the next item provides some photos of a wildfire burning near Cultus Lake, British Columbia (19); and an air-tanker was dispatched to help with a small wildfire near Fernie Ridge (20); Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources commenting on the heretofore slow fire season (21); but even though 61,500 hectares of forest were still on fire in Québec, fire officials indicated that the worst is over for residents of James Bay (22); while fire crews have limited a wildfire burning on Labrador's Gull Island to 2,400 ha in size (23); and a 3-hectare blaze was reported near Avondale (24). Wildfires continue to crop up in Europe, with blazes reported in Portugal, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey (25). The wildfire danger posed by rampant pine tree planting in the African nation of Uganda is the focus of the next article (26); and a war of words has broken out between Greenpeace and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil over Indonesia's wildfires (27). In Australia, a resident of South Gippsland, Victoria, has joined a class-action lawsuit against the Bushfire Management Overlay, which prevents him from building on 70 ha of land due to the bushfire danger (28); but a champion bull who was severely burned when bushfires blazed through Coonabarabran, New South Wales, was unable to survive the winter (29). And finally, in the wake of the tragedy in Arizona where 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots died in a burnover, an editorial from St. George, Utah, recommends helping a fallen firefighter's family!

(1) Deputies in Final Hours of Vigil Before Service for Arizona Firefighter

(2) Mountain Fire Burns 4,700 Acres Near Idyllwild

(3) Group Wants to Save Sonoma County, Calif. Fire Tower

(4) Lawmakers hold tele-townhall meeting to discuss rural firefighting fee

(5) Conditions prime for wildfires

(6) Wash wildfire spreads near Gorge, burns home

(7) Firefighters battle two small blazes

(8) Firefighters Investigating Brush Fire in North Richland

(9) Winds precluded air tanker help in Yarnell

(10) Dierks Bentley benefit for Arizona firefighters sells out

(11) Black Forest businesses deal with losses

(12) Lessons and questions left to smolder in the wake of massive suburban forest fire

(13) Idaho wildfires burn as temperatures soar near 100

(14) Wildfire burns 800 acres north of Wilderness Ranch

(15) Firefighters battle triple digit temperatures while battling fires

(16) Controlling Wildfires: Local Versus Global Solutions

(17) Become firewise: Firefighting agencies offer timely educational program

(18) Red sun caused by Canadian wildfires

(19) Gallery: Firefighters back on scene of forest fire burning near Cultus Lake

(20) Air tanker deployed to small wildfire

(21) Slow year for forest fires

(22) Forest fires: Worst is over near James Bay

(23) Gull Island fire still burning; no ground gained

(24) Forest fire reported near Avondale

(25) EFFIS - Current Situation

(26) Kayihura’s warning on forest fires should be taken seriously

(27) Greenpeace Rapped Over Fires

(28) South Gippsland man to join bushfire overlay class action

(29) Bushfire survivor succumbs to his injuries

(30) Honor firefighters by helping a fallen hero's family