WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 090613

Wildfire NOTD subscriber Jerry Geissler, General Manager at Eco Fire Solutions, sent along a couple of items that call into question the effectiveness of retardant drops against wildfires: in a YouTube video, US Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell testifies before Congress on the topic (1); followed by an article in which the debate over the effectiveness of retardant is revisited (2). An Op-Ed piece from the Los Angeles Times lobbies for more controlled burns in the wake of the 237,341-acre Rim Fire, which has cost $75 million to suppress so far (3); but firefighters battling the 12,272-acre Corral Complex Fire in California's Six Rivers National Forest plan to switch over to direct attack now that favorable weather allows it (4); a National Guard C-130 pilot discussing what it's like to fight wildfires from the air (5); the impact of wildfire smoke on businesses in Calaveras County being explored in the next article (6). The Granite Mountain Hotshots were honored with Arizona State Fire School's Firefighter of the Year Award (7); even as a legislative committee explored ways to compensate the city of Prescott for granting full benefits to their families (8). Volunteers continued to search for a missing wildland firefighter in New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest (9); while a pair of small wildfires cropped up in Larimer County, Colorado, yesterday afternoon (10). A quintet of new wildfires were sparked by lightning in Montana's Bitterroot National Forest (11); the editor of a northern Minnesota newspaper reporting first-hand on a 200-acre wildfire in the Superior National Forest's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (12). New Jersey's Barnegat Volunteer Fire Company earned 2nd place in the national 'Ready, Set, Go!' program, which prepares communities for forest fires (13). As NIFC reduces the wildfire alert level and the number of firefighters on the firelines drop from 20,000 to 11,000 nationwide, firefighters are returning home from the West: a trio of firefighters from Massachusetts discuss their exploits in Montana (14); North Carolina Air National Guard units brought their C-130s with MAFFS home (15); and a Florida Forest Service firefighter recounts his experiences at fire camps in Oregon and Alaska (16). Wildfire NOTD subscriber Wayne Coulson, CEO of The Coulson Group of Companies, talks about what the loss of a firefighting contract with British Columbia, Canada, may mean for the venerable Martin Mars (17). Over two dozen wildfires have been reported in the European nations of France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Turkey over the past few days (18); the next article providing more details on fires in Portugal (19). In a press release, authorities in Queensland, Australia, recommended that property owners use the Rural Fire Service Queensland (RFSQ) live fire website to stay informed on bushfire activity (20); and to help protect those homes, the Rural Fire Service Assistant Commissioner announced a 3-year, $6.1 million contract for four water-dropping helicopters (21). A report from Western Australia's Department of Fire and Emergency Services into last summer's deadly Black Cat Creek bushfire found that firefighters were stranded in a 'Dead Man's Zone' when the wind changed (22). And finally, for air enthusiasts in Southern California, Ramona Airport will sponsor an open house this weekend in which air-tankers will be on display and fees to the hot rods exhibit will benefit the Aerial Firefighters Memorial Fund!

(1) USFS Chief Tidwell Current Firefighting Tactics

(2) Does Flame Retardant Work?

(3) Feeding tax dollars to forest fires

(4) Tactical change at the Corral Complex fires; favorable weather gives window for direct attack

(5) Mokelumne Hill man fights fires from the skies

(6) Smoke stings county business

(7) Granite Mountain Hotshots honored with Firefighter of the Year Award; Yarnell gets huge cache of firefighting equipment

(8) Panel to debate Yarnell benefits

(9) Search for firefighter enters into day 8

(10) Two small wildfires reported in Larimer County

(11) Lightning sparks 5 new fires on Bitterroot National Forest

(12) Walking on the fire line

(13) Barnegat Fire Company Lauded for Forest Fire Plan

(14) Three local firefighters return from battling Montana wildfires

(15) NC Air National Guard to return home following wildfire assistance

(16) Florida firefighter was in Alaska, Oregon

(17) Contract loss put jobs on line at Coulsons

(18) EFFIS - Current Situation

(19) Forest fires destroy more than 94,000 hectares

(20) Be prepared and well-informed this bushfire season

(21) Four copters on fire alert for Ipswich

(22) Albany bushfire death blamed on wind change

(23) Ramona Airport Open House, Props and Rods Show gets underway Saturday