WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 060813

Although not technically a wildfire story, our first entry today from Wildfire NOTD subscriber Dina Fine Maron, a Freelance Journalist, is an article she wrote for Scientific American that focuses on the increasingly important role social media, especially Twitter, plays in informing people about natural disasters (1); followed by a National Public Radio segment which takes a look at the early wildfire season in the West and whether a new fleet of air-tankers will be ready for the summer (2). Southern California radio station KPCC explores the recent announcement by US Forest Service that it will begin operating a Bell Super 205 helicopter to fight wildfires at night from Fox Field in Lancaster (3); Congressman Adam Schiff weighing in on the change in Forest Service policy about night-flying helicopters and how such aircraft could have helped on 2009's deadly Station Fire (4); this at a time when the 30,274-acre Powerhouse Fire is 89% contained north of Santa Clarita (5). Oregon dispatched fire crews to help battle wildfires in New Mexico (6). A wind-driven wildfire in central Washington state is estimated to have scorched 7,000 acres, forcing evacuations (7); current conditions prompting officials to restrict target shooting in the Wenas Wildlife Area, were several small fires were sparked by such activity earlier this month (8); but two companies are being sued by the state for $5 million to cover costs from suppressing the Taylor Bridge Fire last year (9); and although the Department of Natural Resources will not be flying drones over wildfires this year, they hope to do so in the future (10). An update on wildfire activity in New Mexico, where seven small fires were sparked by lightning yesterday in the Gila National Forest, is provided by the next article (11); and as two major wildfires continue to burn in the Santa Fe National Forest, a film crew is having to put up with an abundance of smoke in Valles Caldera National Preserve (12); current conditions prompting officials to impose fire restrictions in Cibola National Forest and Rio Grande bosque areas (13); a reporter from the Albuquerque Journal discussing the difference between "good" versus "bad" fires in the next article (14). Colorado's Division of Wildfire reported a blaze that burned between 1 and 2 acres in Homestead Ranch Regional Park in Peyton (15); while Pueblo County Sheriff's Department has lifted evacuations triggered by a six-acre wildfire that is now 50% contained (16); but a judge rejected a plea deal associated with a 400-acre wildfire that burned in Montezuma County last October (17); Wildfire NOTD subscriber Rick Hatton, CEO of 10 Tanker LLC, commenting on the recent "Next-Generation" air-tanker contractor awards and the road ahead (18). In Texas, Austin Fire Department did wildfire assessments on homes in at-risk neighborhoods today (19); while a homeless encampment fire under an Interstate 565 overpass in Huntsville, Alabama, is being blamed for a small grass fire (20). As temperatures warm in British Columbia, Canada, fire officials are warning of the elevated fire danger summer days will pose (21); but NASA revealed that understory fires are causing damage to vast swaths of South America's Amazon Rainforest (22). Heading to Australia, the devastation wrought by a bushfire that scorched 93 percent of New South Wales' Warrumbungle National Park, destroying 53 homes in Coonabarabran in the process, is revisited in a video segment (23). And finally, Colorado's Canyon Lakes Ranger District is looking for a few good... spotters!

(1) How Social Media Is Changing Disaster Response

(2) Signs Point To Destructive Wildfire Season Ahead

(3) Forest Service helicopters return to the sky after dark to fight fires

(4) Op-ed: With fire season upon us, US Forest Service night flying helicopter ready

(5) Firefighters have ‘Powerhouse Fire’ nearly contained

(6) Oregon crews, engines sent to battle N.M. wildfires

(7) New central Washington wildfire pushed by winds

(8) Wildfires prompt shooting restrictions at Wenas

(9) State sues to recoup Taylor Bridge wildfire costs

(10) No-go for Wash. to use drone to combat wildfires

(11) Crews try to control 2 fires

(12) Film crews endure smoke as NM wildfires burn

(13) New fire restrictions for forest, bosque

(14) Wildfire: not always “wild”

(15) Firefighters Mopping Up Fire At Peyton Park

(16) Evacuations lifted; Beulah fire 50% contained

(17) Judge rejects plea deal involving SW Colo wildfire

(18) Only 1 of 7 new Forest Service air tankers flying as wildfires burn

(19) Austin Fire Dept. helping homeowners assess wildfire threat

(20) Huntsville firefighters extinguish grass burning beneath Interstate 565 overpass

(21) Hot summer days bring fun and risk of forest fires

(22) NASA Discovers Unmapped Wildfire Destroying Amazon Rainforest

(23) Plume of despair and anger lingers after ravaging bushfire

(24) Forest Service seeks Deadman Lookout tower fire spotter volunteers