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New Mexico wildfires merge; blazes rage in five states(now eight+)

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March 27, 2024, 12:55:24 pm Mark says: Shocked Shocked Shocked Shocked  When Hamas spokesman Abu Ubaida began a speech marking the 100th day of the war in Gaza, one confounding yet eye-opening proclamation escaped the headlines. Listing the motives for the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, he accused Jews of "bringing red cows" to the Holy Land.
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September 24, 2017, 10:45:16 pm Psalm 51:17 says: The specific rule pertaining to the national anthem is found on pages A62-63 of the league rulebook. It states: “The National Anthem must be played prior to every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the National Anthem. “During the National Anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the National Anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses.”
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Author Topic: New Mexico wildfires merge; blazes rage in five states(now eight+)  (Read 1897 times)
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« Reply #30 on: June 30, 2012, 10:13:43 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/firefighters-made-headway-colorado-evacuees-return-home-004747708.html

Firefighters make gains in Colorado, evacuees return home
By Keith Coffman | Reuters – 1 hr 26 mins ago

DENVER (Reuters) - Crews battling a deadly Colorado wildfire ranked the most destructive in state history have made enough headway to allow most evacuees home, but concerns remain about rogue bears and burglaries in vacant houses, officials said on Saturday.
 
The so-called Waldo Canyon Fire, stoked earlier this week by strong, erratic winds, is now 45 percent contained, although the damage wrought by the blaze has devastated the communities around Colorado Springs, the state's second-largest city.
 
The wildfire has been blamed for two deaths and the destruction of 346 homes, while 35,000 residents were forced to evacuate to escape the threat of flames and heavy smoke.
 
Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete Carey said all the people unaccounted for in the fire zones have now been located.

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« Reply #31 on: July 04, 2012, 10:45:02 am »

Air Force Planes Again Ready for Fire Missions

Updated: Jul 4, 2012, 9:26 AM EDT


Air Force tanker planes returned to the flight line for firefighting missions on Tuesday after a deadly weekend crash, bringing much-needed reinforcements to a strained fleet battling some of the worst wildfires in decades.

The return of five C-130s means wildfire managers now have 19 heavy tankers to battle the huge fires that have burned hundreds of square miles and displaced thousands of people across the West.

One wildfire in Montana has charred 320 square miles and burned 16 homes. The fire was 55 percent contained.

The most active part of the fire was burning thick, largely inaccessible timber on the Custer National Forest. That has led firefighters to steer clear of the dangerous forward edge of the blaze, fire information officer Kathy Bushnell said.

In Wyoming, erratic winds have spread a wildfire across 137 square miles in a sparsely populated area north of Laramie since it started June 27. It was 25 percent contained Tuesday.

"We've had this fire push north, push south, push east and push west at various times," fire information spokesman Jim Whittington said.

The Air Force had sidelined its seven remaining firefighting C-130s to review safety procedures after a C-130 from the North Carolina National Guard crashed Sunday, killing four crew members and injuring the other two.

The plane was helping fight a wildfire in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The National Guard identified the dead as Lt. Col. Paul K. Mikeal, 42, and Maj. Joseph M. McCormick, 36, both pilots; Maj. Ryan S. David, 35, a navigator; and Senior Master Sgt. Robert S. Cannon, 50, a flight engineer. All were from North Carolina and were assigned to the 145th Airlift Wing.

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« Reply #32 on: July 04, 2012, 10:46:52 am »

$110M worth of homes lost in Colorado wildfire
 
Published July 04, 2012
 
Associated Press
 
DENVER –  A newspaper's analysis indicates that Colorado's most destructive wildfire burned homes worth a total of more than $110 million in one of the neighborhoods affected by the blaze.
 
The Denver Post reports the actual losses are expected to run much higher as residents of the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs calculate the loss of their possessions and the price of replacing the homes. The newspaper reports El Paso County assessor records identified the combined market values of 341 of the destroyed homes at $110.2 million.
 
Almost 350 homes were destroyed in the blaze, but assessor's records don't match a handful of the addresses that have been identified by the city as total losses. Data provided by the city indicate 50 other homes were visibly damaged.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/04/110m-worth-homes-lost-in-colorado-wildfire/?test=latestnews#ixzz1zfYQhGeT
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« Reply #33 on: July 10, 2012, 08:11:35 am »

7/10/12

Crews eye winds, heat at wildfires across West

BOISE, Idaho –  Wind-fanned wildfires in southern Idaho are proving stubborn, but across the West as a whole, firefighters are gaining ground and keeping an eye on the weather.
 
A fast-moving blaze spread across nearly 300 square miles of sagebrush and dry grass, authorities said Monday.
 
More firefighters were headed to that lightning-sparked fire, which has spread to nearly 300 square miles by Monday after it ignited Saturday. At one point, it was threatening six homes in the Castleford area, west of Twin Falls.
 
"The fire has been pretty well laid down near Castleford," said Heather Tiel-Nelson, a spokeswoman for Bureau of Land Management.
 
A steady 20-mph wind has been pushing the blaze northwest, where crews were focusing their efforts, said BLM officials. Strong gusts also spread flames of a separate fire to the Saylor Creek bombing range, a training space operated by the Mountain Home Air Force Base, but no structures were threatened.
 
"The wind has been a big factor," said another BLM spokeswoman, Kyli Gough. "With these light fuels being the way they are, even a small amount of wind can pick up the fire and move it pretty quickly."
 
Elsewhere across the West, firefighters made progress in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Montana, the site of the country's biggest active wildfire, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. But forecasts for the rest of the week called for heat, lightning and wind across much of that area, which could fuel more blazes.
 
A wildfire that has burned more than 390 squares miles in southeastern Montana was 90 percent contained. A separate fire in the same region of the state, near Fort Howes, was 65 percent contained after blackening nearly 97 square miles.
 
Winds were also problematic at a California blaze near the farming community of Maxwell in Colusa County. The fire started Sunday and consumed about 1,600 acres. Several miles to the west, a wildfire burned more than 15 square miles in the Mendocino National Forest, closing campgrounds and prompting the residents of a handful of homes to flee early Monday.
 
Other fires in the West include:
 
— Wyoming's largest fire, burning about 150 square miles northwest of Wheatland, was 75 percent contained.
 
— In Utah, cooler temperatures and rain helped firefighters with the state's largest wildfire. The 108,000-acre blaze in Millard and Juab counties was 91 percent contained, officials said.
 
— In Washington state, a wildfire caused by humans has burned 675 acres between Entiat and Chelan.
 
— Oregon authorities braced for an outbreak of wildfires after the National Weather Service said conditions in central and eastern parts of the state were ripe for fires. A blaze in Grant County, east of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, burned 290 acres, and winds were pushing a 2,800-acre wildfire west of Frenchglen. A 70-square-mile grass fire in southeast Oregon forced employees at a state transportation station to evacuate and also shut down traffic on U.S. Highway 95 at one point.
 
— In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper lifted a statewide fire ban he ordered last month after recent rain, but some local officials, including ones in Garfield County, say they're keeping the ban in place. The rain washed out a main highway to Leadville and caused a mudslide in northern Colorado, creating problems in fire-ravaged areas now susceptible to mudslides.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/10/crews-eye-winds-heat-at-wildfires-across-west/#ixzz20E0S5rJ1
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« Reply #34 on: July 10, 2012, 03:48:13 pm »

The whole country is just parched, ready to ignite, it's been such a hot period. And the numbers are coming in to prove it.

2010 tied 2005 for the hottest year on record.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2011/20110112_globalstats.html

2011 broke the record, and the first half of 2012 is the hottest on record.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/07/09/513425/us-sees-hottest-12-months-and-hottest-half-year-on-record-noaa-calls-record-heat-a-one-in-16-million-event/?mobile=nc

State of the Climate - NOAA

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2012/6

Quote
Climate Highlights — 12-month period (July 2011-June 2012)
 
• The July 2011-June 2012 period was the warmest 12-month period of any 12-months on record for the contiguous U.S., narrowly surpassing the record broken last month for the June 2011-May 2012 period by 0.05°F. The nationally-averaged temperature of 56.0°F was 3.2°F above the long term average. Every state across the contiguous U.S. had warmer than average temperatures for the period, except Washington, which was near normal.
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« Reply #35 on: July 10, 2012, 04:15:22 pm »

It ain't "global warming", that's for sure!

Yeah, this time around, it's affecting ALOT of these states, and not just let's say California(like back in 2006, when it was only one of a few states mentioned).
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« Reply #36 on: July 20, 2012, 03:57:03 pm »

http://www.ksby.com/news/meteor-may-have-started-latest-blaze-in-colorado/

6/21/12

Meteor may have started latest blaze in Colorado

BELLVUE, Colo. (AP) - More people evacuated by the most destructive fire in Colorado history are set to return home today.
 
It's the second wave of evacuees allowed back in two days as firefighters ramp up their attack on the wildfire that's burned over 100 square miles and destroyed at least 189 homes.
 
Fire managers say the blaze is 55 percent contained.
 
Meanwhile, firefighters are making progress against another blaze in central Colorado, which may have been caused by a meteor. The 2-square-mile wildfire near Lake George is 39 percent contained.
 
The county sheriff says his office received multiple reports, including one from a person who thought a meteorite might have landed in a wooded area north of Buena Vista. He says officials could not confirm that report.
 
The National Weather Service says the Colorado sightings correspond with a report of a possible meteor filed by the crews of two commercial aircraft over Kansas and another over New Mexico, near the Colorado State line.
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« Reply #37 on: July 26, 2012, 10:27:28 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/dead-cattle-devastation-wake-western-fires-091953850--finance.html

7/26/12

Dead cattle, devastation in wake of Western fires

VOLBORG, Mont. (AP) — Cecil and Delores Kolka thought they escaped the worst of the Ash Creek Fire when the 390-square-mile blaze spared their home and several pastures as it ripped through the couple's Montana cattle ranch.

But when the family went to round up their livestock they encountered carnage — the charred and bloated bodies of an estimated 400 cows and calves killed as the fire torched a series of narrow, thickly forested draws on the nearby Custer National Forest.

Some surviving animals were burned so badly that their hides were peeling. The worst off were shot in mercy killings. Others now limp by on burnt hooves, and less than half the family's herd remains.

"Before we found our cattle we said at least we've got our homes and are all safe," Delores Kolka said. "In truth, we would have rather lost everything here except our cattle."

Across the West, major wildfires are wreaking havoc this summer on the region's economically fragile livestock industry. In areas such as remote Powder River County, Mont., ranchers said they could be grappling with the devastation for years to come.

Hay is in short supply. Hundreds of miles of fence and numerous corrals and water tanks must be rebuilt. Thousands of head of displaced livestock are being shipped to temporary pastures.

Similar scenes are playing out in Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho. Including Montana, the value of the six states' cattle industries approaches $9 billion annually.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of grazing land have burned so far — with months to go in the annual fire season.

The number of fires and total acreage burned in the West this summer is roughly within range of the past decade's average. What's different is where those fires are burning, as major blazes erupt on grasslands and brush where livestock can be more prevalent, said Jennifer Smith with the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

And that's all set against a backdrop of a crushing drought that has set in for much of the region. If the dry conditions persist, the recovery of burned areas could stall, forcing cattle owners to sell their animals or seek more lasting alternatives to the private pastures and public lands they've run livestock on for generations.

Perhaps 200 cattle have been killed in Wyoming and about 225 in Oregon, ranchers and officials in those states said. The numbers are growing as cattle die from injuries, illness and stress.

In remote southeastern Oregon, ranchers Rich and Jeanette Yturriondobeitia lost a third of their 300-head cow-calf operation. Rich Yturriondobeitia had to shoot six cows at one watering trough.

"I can talk about it now and not cry," said Jeanette. "My husband still can't talk about it. The cattle, oh crud we even had some of them named."

She said her husband "found a bunch of them that tried to outrun the fire and couldn't. He won't let me go see it. It was pretty bad."

In Montana, as the Ash Creek fire approached earlier this month, Cecil Kolka and others cut barbed-wire fences and opened gates to give livestock a chance to escape over rock-strewn ridgelines that dominate the landscape.

How so many cattle were killed remains uncertain. Several dead deer and a dead coyote found among the burned cattle suggest the fire simply outran them.

Like others, the Kolkas said they likely won't know the full extent of their losses for months.

"We're still finding dead ones, and we haven't been able to account for quite a few of them," Cecil Kolka said as he drove through the sprawling ranch he runs with his son and daughter-in-law, Dean and Jill Kolka.

Near a water tank where surviving animals were taken to recover, calves with burnt hooves limped painfully through the mud. Numerous cows had blackened teats on their udders. One mother cow stood vigil over a dying calf that could barely lift its head. Kolka said the animal likely would have to be put down.

The overall fatalities are tiny compared to 30 million beef cattle nationwide. That means the fires will have minimal effect on beef prices, which already were high due to a drought-related spike in feed costs and demand from export markets, said Dave Bohnert with the Oregon State University Extension Service.

But within rural economies, the impacts are magnified.

Oregon's Harney County, for example, is wide open country where some ranchers drive 120 miles for groceries. Its 71,000 cattle outnumber the people nearly 10 to one.

Though not one house there was lost to the 870-square-mile Long Draw Fire, it destroyed the food for tens of thousands of cattle, and left half a dozen ranching families wondering if they will be able to send their kids to college or even stay on the land they love.

Some ranchers say the federal government didn't do enough to stop the spread of fires that have burned more than 3,000 square miles of range and forest in the West so far this summer. They contend that restrictions on logging and grazing allowed too much fuel to accumulate in forests and on the prairies, and that limits on road construction hindered access to fire areas.

Environmentalists cite warming temperatures due to climate change as a major culprit. They also argue grazing spreads non-native plants that are quick to burn.

Regardless, the most immediate problem for ranchers who saved their cattle is how to feed them.

The drought already has driven up hay and corn prices. Pasture is at a premium. And emergency grazing lands released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture can be hundreds of miles away, leaving ranchers wondering how they could ever pay shipping costs.

A Wyoming fire that burned through 153 square miles of remote pine forest and meadows in Medicine Bow National Forest displaced as many as 10,000 cattle.

Meanwhile, disaster programs ranchers normally look to are not available until Congress enacts a new Farm Bill.

"What it does for so many is turn an already slim profit margin into a negative margin," said Wyatt Prescott, executive director of the Idaho Cattle Association.

Ranchers depend heavily on federal grazing allotments, which sell for $1.35 for the right to graze a cow and her calf for a month. But after the ranchers foot the bill for fences and water improvements, the cost is more like $30, said Stacy Davies, manager of the Roaring Springs Ranch outside Frenchglen, Ore.

That is a fraction of the cost of feeding a cow on hay, which runs around $90 to $100 a month since the drought has driven up hay prices, he added.

Ranchers won't be able to graze burned allotments for two years after they burn, unless federal policy changes.

Next door to the Kolka ranch, Marian Hanson says the fire destroyed up to 85 percent of the grazing land on ranches she runs with her daughter and grandson. She has transferred several hundred cattle to locations scattered across Montana.

Her grown grandsons, Blaine and Bob, have been spending their days pulling up burned fence posts, coiling ruined barbed wire and sawing down burned trees.

"There's not enough here for cows to eat," Bob Hanson said as he worked in a stand of blackened pine trees. "We lost a bunch of buildings, too, but it ain't nothing like Cecil and Dean (Kolka). That's heartbreaking."

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« Reply #38 on: August 01, 2012, 04:05:52 pm »

http://www.swrnn.com/2012/08/01/santa-rosa-plateau-volcano-fire-grows-to-200-acres/

8/1/12

Santa Rosa(California) Plateau ‘Volcano’ fire grows to 200 acres

Updated @ 1:36 p.m.: Riverside County Fire Department officials report that the fire has spread to 200 acres and is less than 5 percent contained.
 
Updated @ 1:19 p.m.: Tenaja residents Janet and Warren Franks report that they are experiencing black smoke and can see flames in the distance.
 
According to the Franks, no evacuation orders have yet been imposed but roads in the area have been blocked off.
 
The residents do not believe their home is in jeopardy at this time.

Video of Volcano fire in Santa Rosa Plateau courtesy of Daniel Lane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQIuC0GfX1U&feature=player_embedded

Updated @ 12:56p.m.: Riverside County Fire Department officials have reported that the fire has scorched 100 acres in the city of La Cresta and is now being managed along with United States Forest Service (Cleveland).
 
Original: Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department first responders are on the scene of a vegetation fire burning at Tenaja Road and Via Volcano in De Luz, it was reported today.

As of noon, the blaze had consumed 15 acres at a moderate rate of spread, according to a Riverside County Fire Department report.
 
No injuries or evacuations have been reported at this time.
 
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
 
This is a developing story. Check back with SWRNN for more details as they come available.
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« Reply #39 on: August 03, 2012, 08:05:54 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/wind-whipped-oklahoma-wildfires-destroy-homes-223934766.html

8/3/12

Wind-whipped Oklahoma wildfires destroy homes

NOBLE, Okla. (AP) — A wildfire whipped by gusty, southerly winds swept through rural woodlands south of the Oklahoma City area Friday, burning several homes as firefighters struggled to contain it in 113-degree heat.
 
Oklahoma's emergency management officials said 25 structures had burned east of Noble, including a handful of homes. The sheriff's office directed residents of 75 to 100 houses to leave the area as flames spread through treetops. The evacuation area, south of Lake Thunderbird, is about 30 square miles.
 
The state Highway Patrol closed part of the main highway between Oklahoma City and Tulsa because of a fire that may have been deliberately set. Local deputies were looking into reports about passengers in a pickup truck who were seen throwing out newspapers that had been set on fire.
 
"I loaded the kids up, grabbed my dogs, and it didn't even look like I had time to load the livestock, so I just got out of there," said Bo Ireland, who lives a few miles from where the Noble-area fire started. "It looked to me that, if the wind shifted even a little bit, I would be in the path of that fire. It was just too close."

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« Reply #40 on: August 04, 2012, 09:09:04 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/wildfires-blaze-across-drought-plagued-oklahoma-030840095.html

8/3/12

Wildfires blaze across drought-plagued Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Wildfires burned out of control on Friday in Oklahoma, destroying homes and shutting down highways in a state that has suffered 18 straight days of 100-plus degree temperatures and persistent drought.
 
Emergency officials counted 11 different wildfires around the state, with at least 65 homes destroyed in parched areas north and south of Oklahoma City and south of Tulsa.
 
Oklahoma joins several states that have been plagued by wildfires this summer, including Colorado, Arkansas and Nebraska. Fires are being fed by a widespread drought.
 
Nearly two-thirds of the contiguous United States was under some level of drought as of July 31, according to the Drought Monitor, a weekly report compiled by U.S. climate experts.
 
Interstate 44, historic Route 66 and state highways were closed, but no deaths were reported in the Oklahoma fires.
 
Low humidity, strong southerly winds and drought conditions enabled the wildfires to spread quickly across treetops, said Michelann Ooten, deputy director of the state's Office of Emergency Management.
 
"It's just a very difficult situation we're facing that's all weather related," Ooten said.
 
Governor Mary Fallin, who earlier in the day invoked a statewide ban on outdoor burning after declaring a state of emergency for the state's 77 counties, told Reuters fire conditions may be worse on Saturday.
 
"The fire danger might be even higher," she said.
 
Oklahoma has contacted neighboring states for help, but they are contending with their own wildfire threats and no out-of-state help is on its way, she said.
 
"There's fires in Arkansas. There's fires in Kansas and Texas. Everybody else is on high heat alert," she said.
 
The heat in Oklahoma City, the state capital, has reached historic levels.
 
On Friday, Oklahoma City tied its all-time record for the highest temperature ever recorded when the thermometer reached 113 Fahrenheit (45 Celsius), a mark last recorded in the Dust Bowl days in 1936, according to the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma.
 
Volunteer fire departments have made a public plea for Gatorade donations to keep their crews hydrated in the scalding conditions.
 
(Reporting by Steve Olafson; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Lisa Shumaker)
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« Reply #41 on: August 04, 2012, 01:28:55 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/oklahoma-governor-tours-town-burned-wildfire-170142203.html

Oklahoma governor tours town burned by wildfire

8/4/12


LUTHER, Okla. (AP) — Firefighters in Oklahoma have under control a wildfire that's suspected to be the work of arsonists.

The fire near Luther burned dozens of homes and forced evacuations Friday. Gov. Mary Fallin toured the community Saturday morning, saying the fire and damage are "heartbreaking."

Officials estimate 56 homes and other buildings have been damaged by the blaze.

Oklahoma County Sheriff's spokesman Mark Myers says deputies are searching for the driver of a black Ford pickup that witnesses reported seeing tossing a lit newspaper out of the vehicle about 4 p.m. Friday.

Oklahoma Forestry Services spokeswoman Michelle Finch-Walker said the number of wildfires this year is shaping up to be among the worst in state history.
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« Reply #42 on: August 04, 2012, 10:33:57 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/oklahoma-crews-battle-expanding-wildfires-torrid-conditions-215438260.html

8/4/12

Oklahoma crews battle expanding wildfires in torrid conditions

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Fire crews toiled in triple-digit heat around drought-stricken Oklahoma on Saturday to contain at least 15 blazes that have destroyed more than 120 structures and left a small town smouldering.
 
Authorities said they were investigating whether the fire that devastated the town of Luther was deliberately set.
 
Governor Mary Fallin on Saturday toured Luther, where 56 structures were destroyed, and described it as "total devastation." She said she had met with families who had little time to save anything but photos and pets.
 
"A lot of people were at work and didn't realize how quickly the fire was moving," Fallin told Reuters in a telephone interview. "It's emotional. For the children, it's very emotional to lose their possessions."
 
Luther, which has about 600 residents, is about 25 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. The fire, fanned by southerly winds that pushed it across a highway into town, left Luther town without electricity or water.
 
The Oklahoma County sheriff's department said it was investigating the cause of the blaze after receiving a 911 call from a man who reported seeing another man toss a lighted newspaper from a pickup truck window on Friday afternoon.
 
No arrests have been made but investigators believe the tipster's story is credible, said Mark Myers, spokesman for the sheriff's department.
 
Officials had reported 11 separate fires around Oklahoma on Friday and that number increased to 15 on Saturday, the Oklahoma Forestry Service said. The largest covered about 32,000 acres (12,949 hectares) south of Tulsa in Creek County.
 
No deaths have been reported in the fires.
 
Three grass fires erupted on Saturday, including a large one near the airport in Stillwater, Oklahoma, said Kelly Cain, a state emergency management spokeswoman.
 
Oklahoma has joined several other states including Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Arkansas and Nebraska in being struck by wildfires during the widespread drought.
 
Nearly two-thirds of the contiguous United States was under some level of drought as of July 31, according to the Drought Monitor, a weekly report compiled by U.S. climate experts. Nearly all of Oklahoma was under severe drought or worse
.
 
Below-normal rainfall, temperatures up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 Celsius) and wilted vegetation have made the potential for wildfires extremely high throughout Oklahoma.
 
On Saturday afternoon, the temperature was a blistering 107 degrees (41 Celsius) in Luther and forecast to reach 113 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
 
A cool front expected to arrive late Saturday should lower temperatures but could bring strong and gusty shifting winds that could worsen the wildfire danger, the weather service said.
 
"When the wind shifts it may re-ignite some fires," Fallin said. "It might drop down to 90 but it's still going to be very, very hot."
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« Reply #43 on: August 05, 2012, 09:06:46 am »

http://news.yahoo.com/okla-fires-dozens-homes-burn-evacuations-090002705.html

Okla. fires: dozens of homes burn, evacuations

8/5/12

LUTHER, Okla. (AP) — Several wildfires raging around the parched Oklahoma landscape prompted more evacuations on Sunday as emergency workers sought to shelter those forced out by flames that destroyed dozens of homes and threatened others in the drought-stricken region.

One roaring fire near Luther, about 25 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, destroyed nearly five dozen homes and other buildings before firefighters gained a measure of control Saturday. Authorities said several state roads remained closed early Sunday because of drifting smoke or nearby fires.

Mike Donegan, a communications supervisor with the Oklahoma State Highway Patrol in the scorched region, said evacuations continued overnight. He had no immediate details on the numbers forced from their homes but said officers went door to door in some communities, getting people to leave.

He said he saw thick smoke from a distance of about 50 miles from one of the fires as he drove into work.

"When I came in today ... we got ash falling even where I live. I thought it was raining at first. The smoke was thick," Donegan told The Associated Press by phone.

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« Reply #44 on: August 05, 2012, 04:20:41 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/wildfire-evacuation-orders-lifted-oklahoma-141037496.html

Wildfire evacuation orders lifted in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Many Oklahomans forced to leave their homes because of raging wildfires were being allowed to return Sunday, despite some fires continuing to burn.

A "monster" fire had devoured almost 91 square miles and continued to burn between Mannford and Kellyville in northeastern Oklahoma's Creek County as light rain and cooler temperatures gave firefighters a brief respite Sunday, said Oklahoma Forestry Services spokeswoman Michelle Finch-Walker.

She described the blaze as hopscotching as it burns some areas and leaves others untouched.

"It's not like an inferno moving across the landscape," Finch-Walker said. "You can drive for miles down the highway and see nothing but black, but then you can see pockets of green, pockets unburned.

"Maybe there was a creek (that stopped the fire)," she said. "Maybe the wind blew it in a different direction."

Finch-Walker said residents of the town of Mannford, which was evacuated Saturday, had been allowed to return and that she was not aware of any other evacuation orders.

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« Reply #45 on: August 14, 2012, 10:36:42 am »

Wildfires threaten homes in several western states

http://news.yahoo.com/wildfires-threaten-homes-several-western-states-082405747.html

8/13/12

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wildfires have destroyed dozens of homes and threatened hundreds more in several western U.S. states, including Idaho, where an on-duty firefighter was killed by a falling tree.
 
Anne Veseth, a 20-year-old who was in her second season as a firefighter, was killed Sunday as she worked a fire near Orofino, the U.S. Forest Service said. Her older brother also is a wild-land firefighter in Idaho, where 12 blazes are burning.
 
"The Forest Service is devastated by the loss of one of our own," Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell said.
 
Officials were investigating the death, which came on the same day that another firefighter narrowly escaped a wildfire in southeastern Oregon.
 
That firefighter was forced to deploy her emergency shelter in an area overrun by wind-whipped flames. She suffered minor burns to a leg and forearm and minor smoke inhalation.
 
Her 20-person federal crew made it to a safety zone and was pulled off the fire. The blaze scorched about 653 square miles in remote terrain straddling Oregon and Nevada, where five ranches in the Kings River Valley were evacuated.
 
A crew in central Washington state also barely outran flames Monday at a wind-driven fire in Kittitas County. The firefighters managed to drive to safety as they got ahead of the Taylor Bridge fire, said Richelle Risdon, a county fire spokeswoman.
 
That same fire destroyed 40 homes since it ignited Monday east of the town of Cle Elum, said state Department of Natural Resources spokesman Mark Grassel. Within hours, it had grown to about 23 square miles, according to fire commanders.
 
Officials said more homes were burning or under threat near the small town about 60 miles west of Seattle, but no injuries were reported so far. Grassel said the fire crept within six miles of the nearby city of Ellensburg, though crews stopped its forward movement.
 
Some property at a chimpanzee sanctuary outside Cle Elum burned but the animals were uninjured, Diana Goodrich of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest told KING-TV.
 
In Utah, a lightning-sparked fire consumed about 34 square miles, threatened a herd of wild horses and shut down the historic Pony Express Road in the state's western desert.
 
Meanwhile, crews in Northern California made progress against an aggressive wildfire in Lake County that grew to more than 9 square miles and destroyed three buildings. Officials lifted evacuation orders for the residents of nearly 500 homes late Monday, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
 
"The fire is still actively burning, but burning in a remote area," Berlant said. "It's burning in brush that's tinder dry and hasn't seen a fire in decades."
 
A separate wildfire to the north was threatening about 600 homes, prompting some evacuation orders in the Seneca and Rush Creek communities in Plumas National Forest. The fire burned about 55 square miles, officials said.
 
Fires across California have affected some national parks, including Lassen Volcanic National Park and Joshua Tree National Park.
 
In Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is in Northern California, a fire forced the closure of a highway and several trails. It burned 33 square miles of pine forests and thick brush, fire officials said.
 
At Joshua Tree, park officials said a fire burned up to 300 acres of rocky, tree-covered hillsides, closing the scenic Keys View Road.
 
A handful of other fires in hot and dry Southern California was sparked by lightning, including three burning out of control northeast of Julian. None were threatening any structures
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« Reply #46 on: August 14, 2012, 02:12:02 pm »

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/14/us/western-wildfires/index.html?eref=igoogledmn_topstories

8/14/12

(CNN) -- Whipped by high winds, a wildfire in central Washington state has scorched 26,500 acres and destroyed at least 60 homes, officials said Tuesday.
 
The fire raging near Cle Elum is one of several devastating Western states this week.
 
Colorado paid the price earlier this summer. Now, new wildfires are burning through sagebrush, grass and beetle-killed lodgepole pines in California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and Idaho.
 
In all, 62 fires, including 16 new large fires, were burning as of Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service reported. They have destroyed dozens of homes and are threatening many more.

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« Reply #47 on: August 14, 2012, 02:13:38 pm »

Video: http://cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2012/08/13/california-wildfire.kgo
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« Reply #48 on: August 14, 2012, 06:52:06 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/wildfires-blaze-across-west-burning-homes-165142794.html?_esi=1

8/14/12

Wildfires blaze across West, burning homes

CLE ELUM, Wash. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire in central Washington has burned at least 60 homes and forced hundreds of people to flee — one of several blazes scorching the West on Tuesday, threatening communities, sending up thick plumes of smoke and disrupting activity in national parks.
 
Fire commanders estimate the Washington blaze has burned at least 24,000 acres — about 38 square miles — since it started Monday afternoon east of the small town of Cle Elum.
 
No injuries have been reported, but more than 400 people have been evacuated, said Department of Natural Resources Fire Incident Commander Rex Reed. The fire crept within six miles of Ellensburg, about 75 miles east of Seattle.
 
The blaze, which began at a bridge construction site, is not contained. And authorities worried about wind and heat, saying the fire danger was extreme.
 
"We've had a long prolonged dry period — three weeks with no precipitation at all," Reed said.
 
Joe Seemiller, a captain in Kittitas County Fire and Rescue, said gusty winds were hampering Washington firefighters.
 
"Unless Mother Nature helps us out here, we're going to be fighting this awhile," Seemiller said.

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« Reply #49 on: August 19, 2012, 08:57:56 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/northern-calif-fire-forces-thousands-evacuate-231009123.html

Northern Calif. fire forces thousands to evacuate

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of people have been told to leave their homes as a wildfire burning Sunday in thick forest threatened rural communities in far Northern California.

The fire that sparked around 11:30 a.m. Saturday has destroyed four homes and consumed nearly 19 square miles near the towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola, fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. About 3,500 homes spread out across a rural area along the border of Tehama and Shasta counties are threatened as the fire continues to expand, he said.

"A good majority are immediately threatened, and a good number are in the path of the fire," Berlant said Sunday. "We will be battling it hard today to protect as many of those homes as possible."

The fire's cause has not been determined, but officials said it started after a series of lightning strikes in the area.

No part of the blaze was contained Sunday afternoon, and fire activity had picked up, Berlant said.

John Cluff, 42, told the Redding Record Searchlight that he was forced to flee his home before the evacuations were issued. He went back for his dog about 3:30 p.m.

"The fire basically chased me out of the property," he said. "All I could see was black smoke and flames."

The Shasta County Sheriff's Department has declared a State of Emergency for the county, with evacuations expected to continue through Sunday. The agency also was closing some local roads.

The Red Cross set up an evacuation center in Redding, about 35 miles to the west of the blaze.

The fire, burning in a rugged area of thick forests about 170 miles north of Sacramento, is one of handful of new fires in Northern California.

Another wildfire that started Saturday has consumed about 1.5 square miles east of the Mendocino County community of Covelo. That blaze, which was sparked by lightning, was burning in a remote area of thick timber and rugged terrain, making it difficult for fire crews to access. A third new fire has scorched about half a square mile in a remote area of Shasta County.

Meanwhile, a massive wildfire that has been burning in the Plumas National Forest since July 29 grew larger late Saturday and early Sunday as strong winds pushed the flames past fire lines on the fire's northeast edge.

"Winds picked up, and it got very dry in the afternoon," fire spokesman Brad Pitassi said. "It made a good push in that area"

The blaze, about 120 miles north of Sacramento, has consumed nearly 70 square miles and continued to threaten about 900 homes. The fire is 38 percent contained, with full containment expected Aug. 31.

Also in California, a wildfire in Lassen Volcanic National Park was 51 percent contained after consuming more than 43 square miles. Officials expected firefighters would have the blaze contained by Tuesday.

Elsewhere in the West, fires also continued to rage.

— In Idaho, about 1,100 firefighters worked to protect some 350 homes in the Featherville area under a mandatory evacuation as the Trinity Ridge Fire continued a slow approach toward the community.

"The fire will make it to Featherville," fire spokeswoman Mallory Eils said. "It's just a matter of when."

She said when that happens is hard to predict due to varying weather conditions. The area was under a Red Flag Warning on Sunday with the possibility of thunderstorms, and she said fire managers were preparing to light fires ahead of the main fire to protect the town but were waiting for the right conditions that would draw the backfire toward the main fire.

"They have a very specific plan lined up for how they are going to conduct the operation," she said, noting it included starting fires using helicopters.

She said many people had evacuated but some chose to stay in the area that along with Pine is a recreation getaway in the mountains 105 miles northeast of Boise. It's unclear how many residents remained.

— In Washington state, better weather over the weekend has helped firefighters gain ground on a fire that has scorched dozens of homes near Cle Elum, about 75 miles east of Seattle.

Jessica Payne, a spokeswoman for the Taylor Bridge fire, said Sunday that lightning strikes hadn't materialized as previously feared. Fire officials expect the wildfire to be contained on Monday if the weather remains favorable. The fire broke out last Monday at a bridge construction project and has burned across more than 23,000 acres of grass, sagebrush and timber in rural areas.

— In Utah, evacuation orders were lifted east of Park City as firefighters made progress on a wildfire near Jordanelle State Park. But crews were dispatched to another Wasatch County blaze Sunday afternoon where 60-foot flames were reported in Daniels Canyon.

County fire spokeswoman Janet Carson said the Whiskey Springs Fire was reported in the canyon near State Route 40 just before 1 p.m. She said an air attack might be the only effective way to fight the human-caused fire because of the steep terrain.

The Fox Bay Fire that started Saturday near Jordanelle Reservoir has burned at least 550 acres but was estimated at 40 percent contained Sunday. Residents returned to their homes in the Fox Bay, Stillwater and Shores areas, and state park visitors were allowed to retrieve their property.

___

Associated Press reporters Keith Ridler in Boise and Phuong Le in Seattle contributed
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« Reply #50 on: August 19, 2012, 11:15:57 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/firefighters-keep-flames-bay-evacuated-idaho-town-002920233.html

8/19/12

Reuters) - A lightning-sparked wildfire roared unchecked on Sunday through tinder-dry grass, brush and timber in north-central California, where an estimated 3,000 people were forced from their homes in several small, rural communities, authorities said.
 
The blaze, which erupted on Saturday amid some 900 lightning strikes unleashed by thunderstorms that rolled through Northern California, has scorched at least 12,000 acres of private and public land along the border of Shasta and Tehama counties, officials said.
 
There were no reports of injuries, but the so-called Ponderosa blaze has destroyed at least seven homes and was threatening about 3,000 more, said Mary Anne Aldrich, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
 
She said about 2,000 homes in several communities, including the towns of Manton and Shingletown, about 125 miles north of Sacramento, the state capital, were ordered evacuated starting on Saturday night.
 
A rough estimate of 3,000 people were believed to have displaced by the evacuation, but precise numbers were hard to come by, Aldrich said.
 
So far, a force of nearly 1,000 firefighters, 20 water tenders and three helicopters had yet to curtail the fire's growth, officials said.

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« Reply #51 on: August 20, 2012, 01:10:33 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/n-calif-fire-burns-7-homes-threatens-thousands-141423546.html

8/20/12

.
N. Calif. fire burns 7 homes, threatens thousands


MANTON, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters in Northern California on Monday struggled to gain control of a growing wildfire that has destroyed at least seven homes and forced thousands of rural residents to evacuate.
 
The blaze that started Saturday has consumed more than 23 square miles near the towns of Manton, Shingletown and Viola near the border of Tehama and Shasta counties. It was only about 5 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
 
The Ponderosa fire threatens at least 3,000 homes and more than 300 other structures, said fire spokesman Daniel Berlant.
 
More than 1,200 firefighters are battling the wildfire burning in rugged, densely forested terrain about 170 miles north of Sacramento. It started after the area was hit by a series of lightning strikes.
 
The fire forced the closure of Highway 44 and some local roads and prompted the sheriff to declare a State of Emergency for Shasta County. The Red Cross set up an evacuation center in Redding.
 
John Cluff, 42, told the Redding Searchlight that he was forced to flee his home before the evacuations were issued. He went back for his dog about 3:30 p.m.
 
"The fire basically chased me out of the property," he said. "All I could see was black smoke and flames."
 
The Ponderosa fire is one of many wildfires burning across California and the West.
 
In Mendocino County, another wildfire that started Saturday has consumed about 8 square miles near Covelo. That blaze, which was sparked by lightning, was burning in a remote area of thick timber and rugged terrain, making it difficult for fire crews to access.
 
Meanwhile, a massive wildfire that has been burning in the Plumas National Forest since July 29 grew larger over the weekend as strong winds pushed the flames past fire lines on its northeast edge.
 
The blaze, about 120 miles north of Sacramento, has consumed more than 73 square miles and continued to threaten about 900 homes. The fire was 32 percent contained Monday.
 
Also in California, a wildfire in Lassen Volcanic National Park was 51 percent contained after consuming more than 43 square miles. Officials expected firefighters would have the blaze contained by Tuesday.
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« Reply #52 on: August 22, 2012, 05:27:57 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/50-buildings-destroyed-northern-calif-fire-035715498.html

8/22/12

50 buildings destroyed in Northern Calif. fire

MANTON, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California fire burned dozens of buildings and threatens hundreds more as firefighters work to stop the blaze in a densely forested, remote section of the state.
 
Fire crews assessing the rural area determined Tuesday that 50 buildings had been destroyed, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. The count included buildings burned since the fire began, but officials did not say when the structures were destroyed.
 
Officials didn't have an accurate count yet of how many of the structures were homes, but Berlant noted the buildings were spread across a vast rural area of mostly residential homes.
 
The blaze, which was sparked by lightning on Saturday has consumed more than 33 square miles and continues to threaten hundreds of homes.
 
Nearly 1,900 firefighters were battling the fire in rugged, densely forested terrain as it threatened 3,500 homes in the remote towns of Shingletown, Manton and Viola, about 170 miles north of Sacramento.

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« Reply #53 on: August 22, 2012, 06:22:59 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/california-governor-declares-state-emergency-wildfires-rage-215725740--sector.html

8/22/12

Red Bluff, California (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in three Northern California counties on Wednesday after raging wildfires destroyed 50 buildings and threatened more than 200 others.
 
Some 3,000 people have been evacuated as the so-called Ponderosa fire burns through more than 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares) of steep, rugged terrain in the rural California counties of Tehama and Shasta, about 125 miles (200 km) north of state capital Sacramento.
 
The lightning-sparked blaze was 50 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon, fire officials said, but 200 homes, 10 commercial properties and 30 outbuildings were still at risk of being consumed by the fire.
 
Brown also declared a state of emergency in nearby Plumas County, where firefighters were battling a fire nearly double the size of the Ponderosa blaze. Declaring a state of emergency frees up funds to help combat the fires.
 
The Ponderosa fire is one of dozens burning across drought-parched states in the U.S. West, including a blaze that destroyed dozens of homes this week in Washington state and another that threatened a town in Southern California.
 
Firefighters were expected on Wednesday to start inspecting the damage from the Ponderosa blaze, which they had surveyed by air on Tuesday.
 
Efforts to prevent the fire from overrunning the rural towns of Manton and Shingletown have succeeded so far despite high winds and heat, fire officials said, and evacuation orders for Shingletown and the Lake McCumber area were lifted on Wednesday.
 
But an expanded evacuation warning was issued for areas along Highway 36, including the community of Mineral.
 
"Firefighters are working aggressively to build approximately 11 miles of line and strengthen existing containment lines," the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on its website.
 
"As additional resources arrive, firefighters will continue to diligently defend structures, construct containment lines and build bulldozer perimeter lines," it said.

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« Reply #54 on: August 22, 2012, 10:42:23 pm »

Costs of big wildfire season hurting some states

8/22/12

http://news.yahoo.com/costs-big-wildfire-season-hurting-states-204223162.html

MANTON, Calif. (AP) — A huge wildfire in California is just the latest destructive blaze to stretch resources across the West during a fire season that has been one of the worst in years.

The fires have left some states with thin budgets to scramble to get people, planes, bulldozers and other tools on fire lines to beat back the flames.

And that's with about a third of the annual wildfire season remaining.

According to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, the nation as of Wednesday had seen 42,927 wildfires this year, which burned just over 7 million acres.

While the number of fires is down from the 10-year average of 54,209 as of Aug. 22, the acreage was well above the average of 5.4 million acres, said Don Smurthwaite, a NIFC spokesman.

"The fires are bigger," Smurthwaite said.

In Colorado Springs, Colo., this summer, about 350 homes were burned in the most destructive wildfire in state history. Another fire in northern Colorado just before it scorched 257 homes.

The costs have mounted, not just in the damage to houses and other buildings.

In Utah, for example, officials have spent $50 million as of mid-August to fight more than 1,000 wildfires, far surpassing the $3 million a year the Legislature budgeted for fighting wildfires.

The state's share is estimated at $16 million, said Roger Lewis of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. He said lawmakers will need to figure out how to come up with $13 million.

That's the largest-ever supplemental appropriation request needed for firefighting in the state, agency spokesman Jason Curry said. He said, "It's obviously been a big year."

Washington state fire officials project that they will spend about $19.8 million on emergency fire suppression activities in the current fiscal year that ends next June.

That is expected to far surpass the $11.2 million the agency was allotted for such work, meaning the Department of Natural Resources will have to ask the Legislature for supplemental funds.

Not all Western states are seeing their budgets busted because of fires.

In Oregon, the state estimated it had spent $3.4 million through last Saturday to fight wildfires, with more than two months of the season left. Last year, it spent $6.6 million.

In Montana, forest managers told Gov. Brian Schweitzer that long-term forecasts call for fire conditions through the end of September, which is longer than normal.

The Northern Rockies Coordination Center put the total cost of fighting large wildfires in Montana, including costs to federal and state agencies, at $64 million so far this season. The state's share is about $25 million to fight fires that have burned about 1,100 square miles.

Schweitzer said the state has already burned through cash reserves set aside for such natural disasters, but that plenty of money is available from surplus general funds.

While parts of the Southwest, particularly Southern California, still have three months of fire season left, Smurthwaite said, shorter days, declining temperatures and higher humidity will help curtail fires.

"That's almost like putting a little wet blanket over a fire," he said.

In California, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said Wednesday that while crews were getting a handle on many of the fires in the northern part of the state, more lightning strikes in Southern California could trigger a new round of blazes.

"There's no reprieve just yet," Berlant said.

Firefighters in northern California on Wednesday made progress in containing a huge wildfire that has burned dozens of homes and scorched about 38 square miles. It was 50 percent contained Wednesday morning.

The threat to homes dropped from 3,500 earlier this week to roughly 200 residences, officials said.

Fire crews assessing the rural area determined Tuesday that 50 buildings had been destroyed since it was sparked by lightning Saturday. It was unclear when the structures burned and how many were homes.

More than 2,100 firefighters were battling the fire near several remote towns about 170 miles north of Sacramento.

Angie Nelson, 38, of Shingletown and her family were swimming at Whiskeytown Lake on Saturday when they got a phone call saying the fire was advancing on their house.

They drove home and her husband and teenage son climbed on the roof and cleaned the gutters of pine needles and leaves, watered the yard and started putting clothes, family pictures and other mementoes together.

Since then, the couple and their four children have been sleeping on the floor of Nelson's mother's house.

"It's stressful. I can't wait to go home. It's awkward staying at somebody's house, even if it is your mother," she said. "They're really going to appreciate sleeping in their own beds."

Nelson said she still had family pictures loaded in special evacuation buckets from the last time they had to leave their house four years ago. She said her 10-year-old son took a teddy bear, her daughter chose a clothes hanger full of belts. Her teenage son took his collection of super balls.

"I looked back in the car and saw that and said 'What are you doing?' and he said 'Mom, I've been collecting these for months.'"

Elsewhere in California, a large wildfire in Plumas National Forest continued to expand, helped by gusty winds.

The blaze, about 120 miles north of Sacramento, has consumed nearly 98 square miles since it started at the end of July and threatens about 900 homes. It was 37 percent contained Wednesday.

In Washington state, fire crews still hoped to fully contain a week-old wildfire that has destroyed 51 homes and 26 outbuildings and damaged at least six other homes, authorities said.

The fire, about 75 miles east of Seattle, has caused an estimated $8.3 million in property damage.

In south-central Idaho, authorities have spent more than $23 million fighting a fire near the towns of Pine and Featherville and another in a forest near the resort town of Stanley.

Those wildfires have each consumed about 150 square miles, and will not be extinguished for some time, Smurthwaite said.

"We expect to be managing them for weeks to come," he said.

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« Reply #55 on: September 02, 2012, 07:50:05 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/neb-wildfires-burn-more-285-square-miles-231115163.html

9/2/12

Neb. wildfires burn more than 285 square miles

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Strong winds helped wildfires grow Sunday, burning more than 285 square miles in northwest Nebraska and southwest South Dakota.

Fire officials estimate the largest fire, which began north of Rushville, has burned 150 miles alone. Two other fires nearby burned more than 135 square miles of rugged ranch land.

Rushville Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Kearns says firefighters are working hard to contain the fires and protect property.

But Kearns says firefighters have to make difficult decisions about what can be saved. He says it's hard to watch a rancher's hay burn because of this summer's ongoing drought.

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman says it will likely take several more days to fully contain the fires, but he says firefighters appear to have all the resources they need to do that.
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« Reply #56 on: September 03, 2012, 06:20:57 pm »

http://news.yahoo.com/wildfire-southern-ca-forest-grows-500-acres-163959327.html

9/3/12

Wildfire in Southern CA forest grows by 500 acres

GLENDORA, Calif. (AP) — A fast-spreading fire has erupted in Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County.

The Ventura County Fire Department says the blaze broke out about 11 a.m. Monday and quickly charred 25 acres of rugged, mountaintop terrain in the Lockwood Valley area. No structures were immediately threatened.

Ventura called out 18 firefighting units to the scene to try to contain the blaze.

Billowing smoke could be seen for miles in the distance.
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« Reply #57 on: September 12, 2012, 02:06:17 pm »

http://www.kulr8.com/news/wyoming/169465436.html

9/12/12

Casper Mtn.(Wyoming) firefighters building line near homes

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Firefighters are taking advantage of cooler, more humid weather to dig in around a wildfire burning on Casper Mountain.

Crews were focusing Wednesday on building containment lines around the northwest corner of the Sheep Herder Hill Fire, the portion closest to most of the 750 homes threatened by the blaze. The fire has destroyed seven homes on the mountain overlooking Casper since breaking out Sunday.

It hasn't spread much in the last 24 hours and is listed at nearly 25 square miles and 10 percent contained.

Investigators will also be in the fire zone looking into how the fire started. Fire spokeswoman Susan Ford said that's a standard procedure when there aren't any obvious signs of how a fire started, such as a lightning strike.
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« Reply #58 on: October 20, 2012, 04:33:58 pm »

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2805343.shtml?cat=500

UPDATE: Crews continue to tackle Sandias blaze(New Mexico)

10/19/12

Crews continue to tackle a small fire in the Sandias as smoke from a separate controlled burn in the Jemez continues to permeate the metro Albuquerque area.
 
Fire crews are battling a small and very smoky fire 1.5 miles north of th eLa Luz trail.
 
The Chimney Fire is approximately a half-acre in size, located in steep terrain. The fire started sometime Friday morning.
 
A United States Forest Service spokesperson told KOB Eyewitness News 4 the fire has burned approximately five acres.
 
Crews have responded to the fire as have additional crews from the Zuni and Southern Pueblo Agency.
 
Helicoptors were being used to drop buckets of water on the Sandia foothills fire Friday afternoon.
 
The La Luz and Piedra Lisa Trails have been closed.
 
A controlled burn in the Jemez Wilderness is also generating lots of smoke over Albuquerque.
 
Because of the burn, the city's Environmental Health Department issued an air quality alert that stayed in effect until 2:00 p.m. Friday.
 
Officials say the smoke could linger throughout the area into the early afternoon.
 
The Forest Service tells us it is trying to burn out more than 7,000 acres of brush in the Jemez mountains. The burn is expected to end Saturday.
 
To mitigate the effects of the smoke, the Environmental Health Departmen recommends that all individuals take precautions when outdoors in areas when smoke is visible or can be smelled.
 
During unhealthy periods, the following actions are recommended, especially for individuals sensitive to particulate pollution:
 
Keep windows and doors closed. If needed for comfort, use air conditioners or heating systems on recycle/recirculation mode.
 
Avoid using swamp coolers that can circulate outdoor air inside.
 
Limit time spent outdoors.
 
If symptoms of heart or lung disease occur, (including severe coughing, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, wheezing, chest tightness or pain, palpitations, nausea or unusual fatigue or lightheadedness) contact your health care provider.Individuals with heart or lung disease should follow their health management plan from their health care provider.
 
Asthmatic individuals should follow a prescribed asthma management plan. If conditions are creating a health emergency, call 911 or seek medical attention at the nearest medical facility.
 
Avoid physical activity outdoors. Motorists should use recirculated air while using air-conditioning during smoke events.
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« Reply #59 on: October 24, 2012, 08:43:42 pm »

10/24/12

Colorado wildfire whipped by 50 mph winds

DENVER, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Colorado authorities said they were hoping to determine Wednesday how many buildings had been burned by a fast-moving wildfire that sprang up Tuesday afternoon.
 
The blaze in south-central Custer County was quickly spread by 50 mph winds, The Denver Post reported.
 
The high winds prevented crews from fighting the fire from the air.
 
Officials said the wildfire was ignited by a house fire in a subdivision south of Wetmore and that it had burned into "broken terrain" of relatively uninhabited areas of Custer and Pueblo counties.
 
More than 300 homes have been evacuated, said Steve Segin of the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center.
 
A separate wildfire in Estes Park has consumed 979 acres and was only partially contained, the National Park Service reported.


Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/10/24/Colorado-wildfire-whipped-by-50-mph-winds/UPI-81651351100687/#ixzz2AGrbEOy2
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