WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 030113

Wildfire NOTD subscriber Ty Bonnar, Vice President of Global Operations at Southern California-based Flexible Alternatives, sent along the link to their brand new website featuring their Precision Container Aerial Delivery System (PCADS) wildfire suppression system which uses aerial delivery from military aircraft such as the C-130, C-17, C-27, IL-76, IL-78, V-22 and CH-53 to deploy the ONLY USAF/AMC Certified System on the market today that's ready for operations (1); something that could be used on a 150-acre wildfire burning in Riverside County's Rancho Jurupa Regional Park that is now 30% contained, one of three active blazes in the state (2); more details on the wildfire in Inyo County provided by the next article (3); while the Santa Maria Public Airport District Board of Directors sliced air-tanker landing fees in half at a meeting last night (4). Folks in Forest Grove, Oregon, were notified of the requirements to conduct spring backyard burns by the Department of Environmental Quality (5); while a legislative committee proposed a bill which would allow Oregon Department of Forestry more funding to better prepare for wildfires (6). At a legislative committee meeting in Elko, Nevada, farmers and ranchers discussed how increased grazing reduced wildfire activity (7); but on the eve of the Arizona Wildfire Academy's commencement, the effect of the budget gridlock in Washington DC on that state's wildfire preparedness is examined by the next article (8). Climatologists in Colorado are hoping that a wet March will reduce wildfire activity in the Front Range this summer (9); however, despite US Forest Service's assertion that there are sufficient air-tankers to battle wildfires across the US, the National Interagency Fire Center just released a new report in Boise, Idaho, that shows that 52% of air-tanker requests during the 2012 fire season went unfulfilled, compared to just 9% during the 2000 wildfire season (10). Students at the Louisiana Forest Products Development Center at the LSU AgCenter learned valuable lessons of how to use fire as a tool (11); while the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has begun controlled burns which typically treat between 10,000 and 15,000 acres across the state (12). British Columbia, Canada's, Campbell River air tanker base is getting a $3.7 million upgrade (13). A bushfire in Uganda's Lamwo District left over 100 people homeless after destroying 35 huts (14); and as an army of 2,000 firefighters demobilizes in southwest China's Yunnan Province, investigators are attempting to determine the cause of the blaze they were fighting (15). Various agencies are working together to prevent peat fires in Malaysia's Raja Musa Forest Reserve (16); while firefighters in Canterbury, New Zealand, are getting tired of false alarms related to paddock burn offs, which average five per day (17). Victoria, Australia's, Aberfeldy bushfire has finally been contained after burning 85,000 ha (18); the effect of bushfires on the tourist trade being examined by the next article (19); even as two Erickson Air-Crane helicopters lent themselves to an impressive photo of that state's firefighting weaponry (20). Homes were threatened by a 1,460-acre bushfire burning on the outskirts of Perth, Western Australia (21); while the Prime Minister allocated $250,000 to rebuild the town hall in Dunalley, Tasmania, which was destroyed by bushfires (22). And finally, firefighters in Coral Springs, Florida, had a tricky extrication to perform: getting a raccoon's head out of a can!

(1) PCADS

(2) Southern California wildfire 30 percent contained

(3) Firefighters get ring around Inyo County wildfire

(4) SMX cuts landing fees to air tankers

(5) Spring backyard burn season for Forest Grove begins March 1

(6) Bill would allow state to attack wildfires faster

(7) Legislative panel talks grazing, wildfire

(8) Sequester could impact Arizona

(9) Climatologist: March Key To Upcoming Wildfire Season

(10) Half Of Firefighters' Requests For Air Tankers Last Year Went Unfilled

(11) RNR class conducts prescribed burns, learns about fire as a tool

(12) Forest service initiates prescribed burn

(13) On the Street: New GM for Harbour Towers and more

(14) Bush fire leaves dozens homeless

(15) SW China forest fire contained

(16) Preventing peat fires

(17) Firefighters battle false alarms

(18) Aberfeldy bushfire finally contained

(19) Bushfire bites into Alpine region's economy

(20) A rare Ballarat airport rest for two air cranes

(21) WA bushfire still a threat to lives, homes

(22) PM vows to rebuild bushfire town's hall

(23) Raccoon With Head Stuck In Can Gets Help From Firefighters