Wildfire Briefs, June 1, 2015

Students evacuated from Florida dorm

About 100 students at the University of Central Florida were told to evacuate Sunday evening when a wildfire was burning in the general area. It turned out that the fire was knocked down at one acre, and the students fairly quickly repopulated the dorm.

Animal rescue #1

Bobcat rescued wildfire

I don’t know that I’d call it “miraculous“, but here’s the story from WINK:

Firefighters in Lee County made a miraculous save during a brush fire [last week in southern Florida].

While fighting the fire, they rescued a two week old baby bobcat that was all alone. Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say the bobcat is lucky to be alive and only sustained minor injuries like bumps and a blister on his paw.

Officials also told WINK that they left the bobcat in a green area and believe his mother would find him, but will check the area later.

FWC says they the bobcat would not return to the wild if experts had raised him.

Animal rescue #2

Owl rescue

From the British Columbia Fire Info:

On Tuesday, May 26 the Sentinel Unit Crew from the Southeast Fire Centre discovered this baby owl on the Little Bobtail Lake fire. He had fallen from his nest and was too young to fly. He was rescued by a Wildfire Management Branch Falling Coordinator based out of the Cobble Hill Zone in the Coastal Fire Centre. A wildlife rehabilitation centre was consulted before the owl was rescued.

He was taken in by Second Chance Wildlife Recovery Centre in Quesnel. Today, he will be flown to the O.W.L. Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society in Delta, where he will be raised with an adult male and female owl. Once the rescued owl is able to survive on his own, he will be returned to where the crew members found him so he can continue life in his natural habitat.

He was found in the black, outside of his nest, unable to fly and vulnerable to prey. He was a little scared, but is now healthy and happy to have a second chance at life. Crews have named him Norman, after Norman Lake.

Memorial planned for Granite Mountain 19

Organizers in Prescott, Arizona are considering designs for one or more memorials to honor the 19 firefighters that were killed while working on the Yarnell Hill Fire in 2013. The groups are discussing one or more of three possibilities:

  • Simple white crosses at the fatality site, with a sign and a low wall to define the area;
  • Something at the trailhead along Highway 89 in the Yarnell area;
  • A memorial on the southeast side of the Courthouse Plaza in Prescott.