WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 081713

Multiple agencies came together in Kern County, California, to kick off the "One Less Spark, One Less Wildfire" campaign on Friday (1); but several structures were burned by a 116-acre wildfire near Diamond Springs before CAL FIRE crews were able to contain it (2); while CAL FIRE crews were setting backfires as Tahoe National Forest's American Fire, which has expanded beyond 10,000 acres in size, was roughly 31% contained late yesterday (3). Oregon Department of Forestry provides a summary of wildfire activity in the next item (4); where the communications challenges faced by firefighters battling wildfires in rugged terrain are examined by the one which follows (5); and the Klamath-Lake District is profiled next (6). Lightning sparked numerous wildfires in Arizona's Tonto National Forest (7); but an op-ed piece from the Los Angeles Times revisits the controversy surrounding Prescott’s decision not to compensate the families of Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew members equally (8); the pregnant widow of one of those Hotshots appealing to the governor to intervene (9). Idaho's 64,000-acre Beaver Creek Fire is only 6% contained (10); and is the nation's number one wildfire priority, according to US Forest Service chief Tom Tidwell (11); Idaho's governor arriving to survey the devastation (12); and as nearly 700 firefighters continued to grapple with that blaze, Boise State Public Radio brings a report from the front lines (13); the toll of wildfires on that state's wildlife being addressed by the next article (14). Firefighters in Utah have brought the 1,920-acre Rockport 5 Fire to 60% containment (15); where preparations by First Responders were credited with smooth operations battling the blaze (16). An update on wildfires in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park is provided by the next article (17). Fire officials in Montana, where 48,637 acres have burned this year, remarked on the slow fire season (18); but those numbers may go up if winds push Idaho's Gold Pan Complex fire into Montana (19); while fire managers in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest used aircraft to fight a 20-acre wildfire in terrain too dangerous for ground-pounders (20). Five months after South Carolina's Windsor Green Fire destroyed numerous condominiums, replacement units are rising from the ashes (21). In Canada, British Columbia's Southeast Fire Centre provided an update on wildfires in the province (22); where the forest fire risk is still elevated, according to the Coastal Fire Centre (23). A wildfire on the Portuguese island of Madeira forced the evacuation of a hospital (24); a BBC video capturing the chaos as officials in Portugal reported that 42,000 acres have gone up in flames nationwide this year (25). Namibia's National Remote Sensing Centre provides a picture of the impact of wildfires on that southern African nation in the next article (26); while a septuagenarian has been found guilty by New Zealand's High Court at Nelson of setting multiple bushfires and faces 14 years in prison (27). Although 43 recommendations following Western Australia's 2011 Perth Hills bushfire have been implemented, 11 more have not, causing concern among bushfire experts (28). And finally, a Bakersfield, California, firefighter can add a new skill to his resume: parrot retrieval!

(1) New fire prevention campaign spreads message like wildfire

(2) Firefighters contain blaze near Diamond Springs

(3) American Fire races past 10,000 acres

(4) Forest Fire Update for August 17, 2013

(5) Communication Challenges at Forest Fires

(6) No news Is good news for firefighters

(7) Several lightning-caused fires on Tonto National Forest

(8) Prescott takes the cheapskate approach to dead Yarnell firefighters

(9) Pregnant widow of Hotshot firefighter calls on Ariz. governor in benefits feud

(10) Residents urged to grab essentials, pets and 'go now' as Idaho fire inches closer

(11) Nation’s top wildfire threatens Sun Valley, Ketchum

(12) Governor Otter surveys damage from Idaho wildfires

(13) Audio: From The Front Lines Of Idaho's Beaver Creek Fire

(14) Idaho Wildfires Claim Tragic Toll on Wildlife

(15) Even as Containment Grows, Concerns Linger Over Rockport 5 Fire

(16) Planning pays off in face of potentially devastating wildfire

(17) 2 of 5 Yellowstone wildfires have grown; Crews working to suppress latest NW Wyoming fire

(18) 35K acres burning amid relatively quiet fire season in Montana

(19) Wind pushes Gold Pan fire east toward Montana

(20) Firefighters not sent in to combat Kelly Fire, terrain unsafe

(21) Windsor Green homes taking shape after devastating fire

(22) Southeast Fire Centre brings in six extra crews to fight forest fires in region

(23) Forest fire risk still present

(24) Hospital evacuated in Madeira as fire encroaches

(25) Wildfires sweep through Madeira

(26) Namibia: Uncontrolled Wildfires Cause Poor Vegetation

(27) Man, 72, guilty of lighting forest fires

(28) Fears over fire-zone rule delays

(29) A Bakersfield firefighter rescued a parrot from a tree, parrot later reunited with owner