WILDFIRE NEWS OF THE DAY - 092413

A 200-acre wildfire broke out in the hills above the Southern California community of Azusa yesterday (1); where evacuations were lifted as the fire was brought to 5% containment (2); while Wildfire NOTD subscriber Tom Lasser, a retired Lt. Colonel in the California National Guard, sent along a CAL OES press release about FEMA grants available through the Fire Management Assistance Grant program to help defray costs associated with the Rim Fire (3); the next article chronicling the impact of the 3,111-acre Morgan Fire on folks in and around Clayton (4); while the Tuolumne County Alliance for Resources and Environment will hold a forum entitled "Catastrophic Wildfire and Our Community" in Sonora on Friday (5); an article by Wildfire NOTD subscriber Bettina Boxall, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the Los Angeles Times, discussing the long-term impact of the Rim Fire (6); but in a bit of good news, U.S. Forest Service's Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit has lifted fire restrictions around the lake (7). The virtues of steel roofing on homes in wildfire-prone areas is illustrated in a press release from Arizona (8). The National Institute of Standards and Technology unveiled its new Wildland Urban Interface Hazard Scale at the International Association of Fire Fighters in Denver, Colorado (9); but months after the Black Forest Fire blazed through a Colorado Springs neighborhood, First Responder radio communications are still a problem (10). A Bastrop County, Texas, couple got their cat back two years after wildfires raced through the area (11); while rainfall and cooler temperatures have allowed officials in Montana's Flathead National Forest to reduce its fire danger level to "low" (12). A man who was trapped by a forest fire in Drew County, Arkansas, finally got to meet the 911 dispatcher who saved his life (13). A new study from the University of Glasgow’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies conducted in the Scottish Highlands showed that peat fires contributed significantly to climate change (14); while the European Forest Fire Information System reported nearly 20 wildfires in the nations of Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, and Turkey (15); and the Russians showcased a new firefighting version of their Ka-32 helicopter (16). A dramatic production in Canberra, Australia, gives voice to the Canberra bushfires of 2003 (17); while in Queensland, Tambo Rural Fire Brigade joined other agencies fighting a 320,000-acre bushfire that has been burning since last week (18); but a weather forecast shows that New South Wales is in for a hot spell (19); prompting Rural Fire Service to impose a total burn ban in Gunnedah (20); while Country Fire Authority fire brigades are asking cyclists to stay out of Victoria's Dandenongs during high bushfire danger periods this summer (21). And finally, firefighters in Burton, South Carolina, have a new accessory as part of their turnout gear: body armor!

(1) 300 firefighters battle 200-acre Madre Fire in Angeles National Forest north of Azusa

(2) Madre Fire: Evacuations lifted, firefight continues

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