WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 010913

The Bureau of Land Management's Fire and Aviation Program will be recruiting seasonal firefighters for work in Idaho through January 29th (1); while firefighters are working with university personnel to clear fire breaks around Cedar Hill, Texas (2). Rehabilitation efforts on Nebraska's Chadron State Park are expected to run through February (3). The Florida Forest Service will conduct controlled burns on 750 acres in Seminole State Forest tomorrow (4); and the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve will be doing the same to improve habitat while reducing fuel for wildfires (5). Before the Maple Ridge, British Columbia, city council endorses a plan to create a wildfire buffer zone, it has a few questions for Canadian proponents (6); but Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas has banned open fires due to gusty trade winds increasing the wildfire threat (7). Firefighters in New Zealand prepped for deployment to Australia to help battle the massive bushfires burning there (8). As fire agencies across Australia try to coordinate thousands of firefighters and apparatus on the ground, they are turning to space to conduct what the military calls C4I: Command, Control, Communications, Computing and Information (9); an astronaut snapping a few photos of the fires from the International Space Station (10); while the contribution of volunteer firefighters is examined by the next article (11); forecasts of cooler weather promising fire crews a bit of a breather (12); banks stepping in to suspend mortgage bills for people in bushfire-affected areas (13); but bushfires have taken their toll on wildlife across the continent (14). Victoria's government will be looking at some slow responses by Country Fire Authority during recent bushfires in Ballarat (15); even as fire crews grappled with a bushfire on Queensland's Bribie Island, one of 17 currently burning in the state (16). A homeowner from Hargraves, New South Wales, has been charged with starting a 140 ha bushfire while using a grinder on his veranda (17); and a 17,000 ha blaze has killed thousands of livestock near the town of Kentbruck (18); a BBC video taking a closer look at the aftermath of fires in that state (19); bushfires being blamed for outages by some cell phone providers (20). An easing of the bushfire threat in the Northern Territory has allowed authorities to reopen Watarrka National Park (21). A total of 148,000 acres was consumed by bushfires in Tasmania as of 1/7 (22); a dramatic series of photos of a family fleeing those bushfires being provided by the next article (23); while NASA's Terra satellite captures bushfire activity in that state in the one that follows (24); but authorities are amazed that there have been no reports of fatalities to date (25); even as evacuees begin to return home (26); some $900,000 in relief funds appearing in just 48 hours time (27). And finally, firefighters in Upstate New York found a handy use for their new air boat: rescuing a stranded deer!

(1) BLM Signing Up Firefighters For 2013 Season

(2) Cedar Hill, Northwood University team with Texas A&M Forest Service to prepare for wildfires

(3) Wildfire cleanup begins at Chadron State Park

(4) Prescribed burn planned Thursday for Seminole State Forest

(5) Prescribed forest fires begin on Thursday

(6) Maple Ridge wants more details on wildfire zone

(7) Authorities ask public to prevent forest fires; avoid burning as high winds continue

(8) Firefighters ready for Aussie call-up

(9) Bushfire battle extends to space

(10) Astronaut snaps Australian bushfires from space

(11) Volunteer firefighters battle Australia blaze

(12) Cooler weather aids Australia firefighters

(13) Banks halt mortgage bills for bushfire victims

(14) The silent victims of Australia’s bushfires

(15) Irate residents say bushfire alerts came late

(16) Bribie Island residents on bushfire alert

(17) Bushfire sparked by angle grinder

(18) Bushfire heads towards NSW town of Yass as firefighters battle Kentbruck blaze

(19) How the earth looks after a wildfire

(20) Some Optus sites lose power in NSW bushfires

(21) NT bushfire threat eases

(22) Tasmanian Bushfires Burn More than 148,000 Acres: AIR Analysis

(23) Pictured: the dramatic moment a family fleeing Australia's wildfires shelter in the water to escape the flames

(24) Intense Bushfires in Tasmania

(25) Fierce bushfires remain fatality free

(26) After the flames; returning safely to bushfire affected areas

(27) Bushfire appeal takes off

(28) Firefighters use airboat, rescue deer from ice