WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 041613

With California's wildfire season now under way after record low rainfall totals, CAL FIRE has begun its wildland firefighting staff buildups in Riverside, San Diego and San Bernardino counties (1); prompting CAL FIRE to remind residents of Ramona, in San Diego County, to clear defensible space around their properties (2); a 7.7-acre blaze outside of Bakersfield underscoring the wildfire danger (3); while the next article profiles the new Forest Fire Management Officer for Los Padres National Forest (4). A man who admitted starting the 18,000-acre Sunflower Fire near Payson, Arizona, last May with incendiary shotgun shells has been sentenced to two years on probation (5); a video of fire crews from the Utah Division of Forestry training for wildfire season being provided by the next item (6). In Texas, Building standards which could leave homes more vulnerable to wildfires are being debated by Cedar Park City Council (7); while a power struggle has broken out in Nebraska over who should control a pair of air-tankers to be based in Chadron and Valentine (8). The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has fined the Department of Natural Resources Air Tanker Base in Hibbing for storm water violations linked to keeping contaminants out of the water supply (9); but an abundance of snowfall this winter should produce a shorter wildfire season in that state (10). With the onset of the spring wildfire season, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued a press release laying down the rules for outdoor burning (11); and a two-acre wildfire in St. Lucie County, Florida, is now 90% contained (12). A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service firefighter has been detained in connection with a moorland blaze that broke out April 1st in Glen Tarbert (13). An update on wildfires that have plagued the Himalayan nation of Nepal is provided by the next article (14); the one that follows editorializing the current situation there (15). A trio of bushfires that cropped up in Victoria, Australia's, Toombullup State Forest was apparently deliberately set (16); while Wildfire NOTD subscriber Nathan Maddock, Communications Officer at Bushfire CRC, sent along a link to Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC's latest announcement (17). Fire crews conducted a fuel-reduction burn in New South Wales' Hassans Walls Reserve (18); but fears that a class-action suit for a 2005 bushfire could hurt Country Fire Service volunteer firefighters, some people in Wangary, South Australia, want to opt out (19). A mental health program designed to help children after the 2011 Queensland floods is being adapted to help children in Tasmania who were traumatized by the bushfires which raged through Dunalley (20). And finally, for those of you looking for a retreat getaway with a great view, consider US Forest Service lookout towers in Montana!

(1) RivCo Increases Cal Fire Staffing for Fire Season

(2) Cal Fire Reminds Ramonans to Create 'Defensible Space' As Fire Season Approaches

(3) Wildfire Sunday contained at 7.7 acres

(4) Forest fire management officer announced

(5) Man who started wildfire sentenced to probation

(6) Wildland-urban interface firefighting optimized through deliberate training; STGnews Videocast

(7) Councilman says masonry standard leaves homes susceptible to wildfires

(8) Heineman: Nebraska Should Control Firefighting Planes

(9) MPCA fines DNR Air Tanker Base

(10) Snow Means Shorter Wildfire Season

(11) Ohio: Ohioans Cautioned About Safety With Burning During Spring Wildfire Season

(12) Fort Pierce wildfire: New fire starts near Indrio Road where March wildfire set homes ablaze

(13) Firefighter in Lochaber hill blaze probe

(14) Fires sweep through forests across nation

(15) Fire in the hills

(16) Three fires deliberately lit in Vic forest

(17) Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC - third update

(18) Bushfire was just insurance

(19) Bushfire class action dividing community

(20) Psychological help for children traumatised by Tasmanian bushfires

(21) Early Availability of Forest Service Fire Lookout Rentals