WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 090213

Although 4,500 homes remained threatened by the 357 mi.² Rim Fire burning in California's Yosemite National Park, an army of 4,600 personnel, over 300 fire engines, and 14 helicopters were able to bring containment to 60% (1); the contribution of Fresno Air Attack Base being summarized by the next article (2); nevertheless, the fire has earned the dubious distinction of fourth largest in state history (3); killing hundreds of cattle in the process (4); flooding Yosemite Valley with smoke (5); but clouds and higher humidity were helping firefighters make progress (6); and despite the wildfire threat, Labor Day tourists continue to flock to wilderness areas (7); residents of Tuolumne County expressing their thanks to firefighters with meals and donations (8); and the head of the National Park Service making a tour of the firelines (9); the next article taking a look at how controlled burns and thinning projects never funded by Congress could have helped reduce the severity of the Rim Fire (10); two Wildfire NOTD subscribers from the University of California at Berkeley, Scott Stephens, an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, and Max Moritz, an Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist at the Center For Fire Research and Outreach, discussing management lessons from the Rim Fire in a San Francisco Chronicle article (11); meanwhile, the 2,060-acre Fish Fire in Sequoia National Forest is 60% contained (12); a Los Angeles Times article providing a summary of the largest wildfires in California history (13); a letter to the editor stating that the US Forest Service should be revamped or replaced after disastrous policies that led to the Rim Fire (14); Wildfire NOTD subscriber Tom Lasser, a retired Lt. Colonel in the California National Guard, sending along an article about United Response, a disaster response exercise carried out by units coordinated by the Guard's Joint Force Headquarters in Sacramento (15). A summary of wildfire activity in Oregon and Washington is provided by the next article (16). Search crews continue to look for a firefighter who went missing while patrolling the perimeter of a 25-acre wildfire in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest (17); but following a fire season in which Colorado spent $35.7 million on fire suppression, a governor's task force and a legislative committee have been exploring possible solutions in wildfire-prone "red zones" (18). Wildfire activity in Idaho is the focus of the next article (19); where a smokejumper was injured parachuting in to fight a 130-acre wildfire along the Idaho-Montana border (20); Wildfire NOTD subscriber Heather Heward, Lead Instructor of the University of Idaho's Wildland Fire Program, sending along an article in which a colleague who is a former U.S. Forest Service firefighter and current head of the pyrogeography lab expresses her thoughts on the war on wildfire (21). In Texas, the Bastrop Long-Term Recovery Team hosted a barbecue yesterday to commemorate the second anniversary of the Bastrop County wildfires which destroyed nearly 1,700 homes (22). The Burroughs Fire north of Dubois, Wyoming, has spread to 1,794 acres in size (23); while a New York Times article looks back on the massive wildfires which blazed through Yellowstone National Park 25 years ago (24). An article from Red Lodge, Montana, giving a tip of the hat to firefighters for the job they did protecting homes there (25); but a ruling from the Montana Supreme Court could fundamentally change the way firefighters across the nation fight wildfires in the future (26); South Dakota Wildland Fire officials worrying that federal cuts could affect their ability to fight wildfires in the future as well (27). Local officials are lobbying for a firebreak to protect the Minnesota town of Karlstad from wildfires (28); while Missouri's Mark Twain National Forest is dispatching additional fire crews to help with Western wildfires (29). Europe's wildfire activity picked up considerably over the weekend, with 47 new starts reported in France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey (30); wildfires in Portugal brewing up once again (31); prompting the National Civil Protection Authority to request additional help from European Union members (32); strong winds and record heat causing seven wildfires in Buryatia, Russia, to blaze across 124 acres (33). A photo from NASA’s Terra satellite shows massive amounts of wildfire smoke being emitted by illegal burns on the Indonesian island of Sumatra (34). In New South Wales, Australia, a former Rural Fire Service firefighter convicted of lighting bushfires is appealing his jail term (35); even as Rural Fire Service officials advised homeowners to prepare for bushfire season (36). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Nathan Maddock, Communications Officer at Bushfire CRC, sent along two items: a reminder that Bushfire CRC's Research Forum will display the latest in fire science from around the world at the Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council conference in Melbourne, Victoria, this week (37); and the seasonal bushfire outlook for Southern Australia (38); Bushfire CRC's warning causing Canberra's Emergency Services Commissioner to warn of a bad bushfire season due to abundant rainfall increasing the available bushfire fuel (39); even as Country Fire Authority conducted controlled burns throughout Victoria to reduce bushfire fuel (40); but the Yarra Ranges Council urged the state to rethink planning restrictions on bushfire risk land, which it claims are causing a substantial devaluation of property in bushfire-threatened parts of the state (41); while the Bushfire CRC report forecasts an average fire season for Tasmania (42). And finally, firefighters in Pennsylvania had an unusual extrication to perform: getting a woman out of a rubber ducky!

(1) Crews gain on Yosemite fire; full containment weeks away

(2) Fresno Air Attack Lends A Hand In Rim Fire

(3) Wildfire becomes California's fourth-largest

(4) Hundreds of California cattle feared hurt, dead as massive Rim Fire scorches region

(5) Wildfire sends dense smoke into Yosemite Valley, shrouding views and hampering suppression

(6) Weather aids fight against major Yosemite wildfire

(7) Some Labor Day Vacationers Undeterred By Smoke From Wildfires

(8) Tuolumne County residents thank firefighters with meals, donations

(9) National Park Service director gets firsthand look at the Rim fire

(10) Cuts to wildfire projects have harmed Yosemite fire recovery, critics say

(11) Fire in Yosemite offers forest management lessons

(12) Fish Fire in Sequoia National Forest 60% contained; firefighters being reassigned

(13) Yosemite fire: What are California's largest wildfires?

(14) Letter: Policies make forest fires worse

(15) Service members team up to prepare for state emergency

(16) Crews have good handle on wildfires in Northwest

(17) Search Resumes for Firefighter in NM Forest

(18) Another costly Colorado fire season sparks search for solutions

(19) Crews fighting Weiser Complex fires report progress, difficulties

(20) Smokejumper injured on Montana-Idaho border fire

(21) Crystal A. Kolden: No one should die to save house from wildfire

(22) Bastrop commemorates wildfire 2-year anniversary

(23) Burroughs Fire near Dubois grows to 1,794 acres

(24) Lessons From the Yellowstone Fires of 1988

(25) When it Comes to Fighting Wildfires ‘Big Government’ Works

(26) Montana Supreme Court decision could change how crews fight wildfires

(27) Cut to firefighting budgets cause worry

(28) Officials want to protect Karlstad from wildfires

(29) Mark Twain National Forest firefighters working western fires

(30) EFFIS - Current Situation

(31) Forest fires break out again after lull in Portugal

(32) Portugal asks for 2 more planes to fight wildfires

(33) Russian wildfires burn 124 acres of land

(34) NASA Photo Reveals New Round Of Indonesian Forest Fires

(35) Firefighter arsonist appeals jail term

(36) It is time to get your home bushfire plan ready

(37) Decade of fire science on show at Research Forum

(38) Southern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook 2013-2014

(39) 'Double whammy' bushfire season feared

(40) Bushfire warning for Ballarat region

(41) Yarra Ranges Council urges the State Government to change restrictions on bushfire risk land

(42) Average fire season ahead

(43) Firefighters rescue woman from 'Rubber Ducky' ride