WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 091213

The controversial issue of whether terrorists are lighting wildfires in the US is revisited by our first article today (1). The Super Scoopers were battling a 17-acre wildfire outside of the Southern California community of Claremont yesterday (2); while fire crews announced 80% containment on a 3,133-acre wildfire in Northern California's Mount Diablo State Park (3); but firefighters returning to their station in Walnut Creek from fighting that blaze found that they had been burglarized (4); and a 12 mi.² wildfire in Shasta County has claimed one life (5); destroying 68 homes and 128 outbuildings in the process (6); the next article discussing the advantages of letting some wildfires burn (7); the Tuolumne River Trust releasing a video that shows before and after shots of areas scorched by the Rim Fire (8). A fund has been set up for the pregnant widow of a wildland firefighter who died when his ATV crashed in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest (9). Flooding in areas burned by Colorado's wildfires has killed three people (10); trapping one firefighter in a tree (11). The critical shortage of heavy air-tankers in the US Forest Service inventory is revisited by an article from Idaho (12); where the Fairfield Ranger District reduced closures for the Kelley Fire (13). In Bastrop, Texas, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, which is being sued by 53 homeowners whose property was ravaged by a wildfire in 2011 attributed to their equipment, is suing the tree trimmer contracted to maintain vegetation along its power lines (14); while losses from a 7,400-acre wildfire in Douglas County, Wisconsin, this past spring have been estimated at $1 million in timber (15). Heading to Europe, 14 wildfires were reported in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey (16); while a member of Parliament worried about the forest fire danger posed by bonfires in the UK's Meon Valley (17). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Nathan Maddock, Communications Officer at Victoria, Australia's, Bushfire CRC, sent along their September 2013 newsletter (18); Bushfire CRC's Chief Executive Officer reminding residents of New South Wales that bushfire season preparations need to be year-round (19); something emphasized by a 1,050-hectare bushfire near Winmalee which temporarily shut down the M1 motorway north of Sydney yesterday (20); evacuees being allowed to return to evaluate the damage done (21); but for a resident of Marsden Park, there is no going home (22). Following the investigation of South Australia's Adelaide Hills Cherryville bushfire, the Emergency Services Minister announced some changes in determining when burning restrictions should be imposed (23). And finally, a firefighter in the UK swapped his fire gear for a hairdryer as he became a stylist for a day for charity!

(1) Are terrorists setting U.S. wildfires?

(2) L.A. County Fire knocks down 17-acre fire near Claremont Colleges

(3) Containment of Mt. Diablo wildfire at 80 percent

(4) California Firefighters Robbed While on the Job

(5) Body found inside perimeter of NorCal wildfire

(6) Calif. Wildfire More Destructive Than Thought

(7) Assessing wildfire to determine command strategy

(8) Video: Before and After Views of Forest Burned by the Rim Fire

(9) Fallen NM firefighter's widow Maine fund created

(10) Colorado flooding leaves 3 people dead

(11) Dispatchers: 'Wall of water' traps firefighter in a tree in Lefthand Canyon

(12) U.S. Forest Service acknowledges air tanker shortage, vows additional fleet on the way despite tight budget

(13) Forest Service Reduces Closure For Kelley Fire

(14) Bastrop electric utility sues tree trimmer over 2011 wildfires

(15) Timber company says damage estimates from large Douglas County forest fire will top $1 million

(16) EFFIS - Current Situation

(17) MP speaks out over concerns of forest fire

(18) September 2013 Bushfire CRC Fire Update newsletter

(19) Bushfires can occur year round: we have to be prepared

(20) Bushfire shuts down NSW motorway

(21) Residents recount lucky escape from bushfire at Winmalee in the NSW Blue Mountains

(22) Bushfire claims one man's memories

(23) SA to change bushfire guidelines

(24) Firefighter swaps his hose for a hairdryer