Between August 31 and September 6, 2008, these were some of the topics we covered on Wildfire Today:
–Tanker 09, a P2V air tanker, crashed just after taking off from the Reno-Stead airport, killing Gene Wahlstrom, Greg Gonsioroksi, and Zachary Vender Griend, employees of Neptune Aviation.
–Bulgaria’s Ministry for Extraordinary Situations requested air tankers through the European Union and NATO to assist with a forest fire burning in Rila National Park.
–The City of San Diego introduced their new firefighting helicopter to the public. Copter 2, a Bell 412, was the city’s second helicopter.
–The Bureau of Land Management and the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security supplied satellite phones to some ranchers in very remote areas of southwest Idaho to make it possible for them to report wildfires.
–Eight Type 2 hand crews and 11 teams of various types were prepositioned in advance of Hurricane Gustav, expected to hit land west of New Orleans.
–At least 20 people were killed in wildfires in South Africa.
–The Dunn Mountain Fire 30 miles northeast of Billings, Montana was contained at 102,383 acres.
–Author John N. Maclean wrote an opinion piece about the effects of the firefighter being prosecuted following the deaths of four people on the Thirtymile Fire.
–A Newsweek article explored in depth the minds of arsonists, mostly wildland fire arsonists. It covered, among other examples, the Esperanza fire which killed five U.S. Forest Service firefighters in southern California.
