WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 042413

First up today, there is a correction for an article in yesterday's Wildfire NOTD in which an article on firefighter workman's comp replaced a press release. Here it is again with the correct link: Wildfire NOTD subscribers Tom Eversole, Executive Director of the American Helicopter Services And Aerial Firefighting Association, and Dan Snyder, President of Neptune Aviation, weigh in on that state's plans to develop an aerial firefighting force of its own (1). US Forest Service will be raising the fire danger level in Southern California's Angeles National Forest to "High" on Friday (2); and as firefighters put the finishing touches on containment of a wildfire near the mountain community of Fawnskin, the next article takes a look at the early start to the fire season (3); something CAL FIRE inmate crews were preparing for in Fontana (4). A dry winter across Oregon may promise an active fire season (5); so fire managers sharpened their wildland firefighting skills at an exercise in Newport (6). US Congressman Steve Pearce discusses what to do about New Mexico's worsening fire seasons in an Op-Ed piece (7). Firefighters have finally contained a 925-acre wildfire burning outside of Alamosa, Colorado (8); even as a video shows C-130s of the 302nd Airlift Wing preparing for wildfire season at Peterson Air Force Base (9); and FireWise Ambassadors instructed homeowners on steps they could take to better protect their homes (10). With the approach of Idaho's wildfire season, the next article takes a closer look at volunteer firefighters, who make up the majority of crews in that state (11). Despite intermittent snowfall, a second wildfire erupted on the outskirts of Helena, Montana (12); and in an article from Illinois, the US Air Force's Air Mobility Command discusses the contribution of C-130s equipped with MAFFS units to fighting wildfires across the US (13). Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources indicated that a wildfire outside of Barrett Township was not the result of a 70-acre controlled burn earlier that day (14); but a 10-acre wildfire was reported in Westmoreland County (15). A video from Valparaiso, Chile, chronicles a 60-hectare wildfire that has destroyed 60 homes and forced evacuations of 150 families (16). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Colin Stewart, from Thermo Gel's Australian branch, sent along an article about how the Fire Services Levy Monitor is impacting insurers across Victoria (17); but criticism about the New South Wales Environment Minister's 10 year plan for dealing with bushfires is aired in the next article (18); while the residents of Dunalley, Tasmania, are planning a dawn memorial service on Anzac Day, inviting fire crews who helped fight the blazes that devastated the town in January (19). And finally, a pilot in South Dakota who will use a private plane to check for wildfires on ranches went through an unusual initiation rite: cutting his shirttails!

(1) Colorado Proposes a State Owned and Operated Aerial Firefighting System

(2) Fire Threat Level Raised To ‘High’ For Angeles National Forest

(3) Mountain fire season begins

(4) Cal Fire inmate firefighters gear up for fire season

(5) Dry Winter Could Affect Fire Season

(6) Forest service fights fire from local hotel

(7) NM fire season: Same story or new course

(8) Crews fully contain Stockade Fire that threatened historic Pike's Stockade near Alamosa

(9) MAFFS demo to stop wildfires

(10) Wildfire preparedness efforts pay off

(11) Volunteers make up majority of Idaho's firefighters

(12) Wildfire off Favorite Gulch Road held to four acres

(13) Mobility Air Force C-130s to continue legacy of fighting forest fires

(14) DCNR: Barrett wildfire was separate from state's controlled burn

(15) Brush fire burns 10 acres of state forest off Pennsylvania Turnpike

(16) Families flee as Chile forest fire destroys dozens of homes

(17) Australia: Insurers to face tough guidelines over fire levy removal

(18) NSW Bushfire plan flawed

(19) Tassie bushfire town embraces dawn service

(20) Cutting those shirttails