WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 091013

Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dave Baskett, President of International Emergency Services, sent along a protest to the Government Accounting Office on behalf of his BE-200 water-dropping aircraft (1); the fight against a 450-acre wildfire burning in San Diego's East County being helped by morning fog (2); but wildfires are multiplying in Northern California (3); the next article providing more details on a 3,700-acre wildfire north of San Francisco (4); whose smoke forced the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to issue health alerts (5); even as wildfire smoke sullied the air in the San Joaquin Valley (6); and the 7,400-acre Clover Fire in Shasta County continued to grow (7); CAL FIRE S-2T Tanker 88 losing one engine during the fight (8); Wildfire NOTD subscriber Tom Lasser, a retired Lieut. Colonel in the California National Guard, sending along a press release about Gov. Brown obtaining a Fire Management Assistance Grant from FEMA that will help pay fire costs (9); but air-tankers from Porterville Air Attack Base were credited with quickly corralling the Angora Fire in Sequoia National Forest's Golden Trout Wilderness (10); while a two-acre wildfire in Anderson destroyed one home (11). The US Small Business Administration is making low-interest loans available to small businesses in Oregon impacted by this summer's wildfires (12). The National Wildlife Federation released a new study which shows that wildfires and drought are having a severe impact on freshwater fish in Arizona and the Southwest (13); the Secretary of Agriculture issuing a press release on the death of a firefighter in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest (14). The Director of Colorado Department of Natural Resources weighs in on how mismanagement of the forests may ultimately lead to the destruction of the forests (15); but although firefighters in Idaho's Payette National Forest made significant progress on two wildfires, some closures remain (16). A logging company in Wisconsin has been billed $633,000 for accidentally starting a wildfire with its equipment (17); and a forest fire blazed across about 200 acres in Henderson County, Kentucky, Monday night (18). The European Forest Fire Information System reported numerous wildfires in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus (19). High temperatures and gusting winds spawned five dozen bushfires in New South Wales, Australia, yesterday (20); where fire crews were getting the upper hand on four bushfires which broke out around Sydney, one of which may have started as a controlled burn (21); the next item providing some photos from the firelines (22); and the one which follows some video as well (23); a farmer from Barrington Tops commenting on the early warm spell which is exacerbating bushfires (24). A couple whose Valentine's Day dinner sparked a bushfire appeared in South Australia's Adelaide Magistrates Court (25). And finally, firefighters in Grandview, Missouri, had to perform a tricky extrication: getting a man out of a trash truck!

(1) GAO Protest 31 August draft 3 2013

(2) Jamul fire hits 450 acres, but slows in fog

(3) Wildfire destroys 30 structures, threatens another 350 in California

(4) Bay Area wildfire has scorched more than 3,700 acres

(5) Smoke from growing wildfire chases Bay Area residents indoors

(6) Smoke from two wildfires worsens valley air

(7) UPDATED: Tuesday Clover Fire update: 80 structures destroyed, 300 threatened

(8) Tanker fighting Clover Fire in Shasta County loses engine, lands safely in Chico

(9) Governor Brown Secures Federal Fire Management Assistance Grant

(10) Air tankers help corral Angora Fire

(11) Peter Pan Fire destroys Anderson home, contained at 2 acres

(12) Oregon Small Businesses Economically Impacted By Forest Fires Eligible For Federal Disaster Loans

(13) Arizona fisheries threatened by more wildfires, droughts, report says

(14) Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Firefighter Token Adams

(15) Seeing the forest through the trees

(16) Payette National Forest fires contained, Area Closure remains in effect

(17) Wis. DNR bills loggers $600K over wildfire

(18) Firefighters fighting brush fire in Henderson County bottoms

(19) EFFIS - Current Situation

(20) Dozens of bushfires flare in Australia

(21) Back-burning investigated as Sydney bushfire threat eases after four major fires

(22) Stunning pictures posted on Twitter as bush fires rage around Sydney

(23) Footage shows intensity of Sydney bushfires

(24) Bushfires in September: voting while the planet burns

(25) Couple charged with Valentine's Day bushfire at Brown Hill Creek face court

(26) Firefighters rescue man from inside trash truck