Andrea Hancock The Norman Transcript, Okla. (TNS) Feb. 17—On Friday, the National Weather Center hosted the director of the National Weather Services to demonstrate an innovative partnership between Oklahoma meteorologists and Oklahoma Forestry Services. Since about...
Storms Bring Destructive Winds, Ignite Wildfires in Australia; Five Firefighters Injured
Powerful winds have killed a man and brought widespread destruction across Australia’s second-most populous state, fanning fires that injured five firefighters.
Couple Whose Gender-Reveal Party Sparked Massive CA Wildfire That Killed Firefighter Sentenced
Rachel Uranga - Los Angeles Times The couple whose pyrotechnics during a gender-reveal party set off what came to be known as the massive El Dorado fire in San Bernardino County in 2020 was sentenced Friday after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. The couple...
How to Protect Houses from Ignition from Wildfires
By Vyto Babrauskas How do houses burn down? There are two main ways: from an internal ignition source and from an external ignition source. Building codes focus primarily on protecting houses from internal ignition sources, but wildfires—forest fires, vegetation...
Sparks From Light Caused Gray (WA) Fire, DNR Investigation Finds
Emma Epperly - The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash. Feb. 6—The Gray fire that devastated Medical Lake in August was caused by sparks from an Inland Power and Light security light mounted to a pole, a Department of Natural Resources investigation found. Multiple...
NM Recruits Firefighters for First Hotshot Crews
Gabrielle Porter - The Santa Fe New Mexican Feb. 5—What does it take to build a Hotshot firefighting crew from the ground up? How about two of them? New Mexico officials are about to find out. The State Forestry Division, part of the Energy, Minerals and Natural...
Wildfires in Chile Kill 112, Leave 1,600 Homeless
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Firefighters wrestled Sunday with massive forest fires that broke out in central Chile two days earlier, as officials extended curfews in cities most heavily affected by the blazes and said at least 112 people had been killed. The fires burned...
Former Criminology Professor Pleads Guilty to Igniting Four Wildfires in 2021
Sam Stanton - The Sacramento Bee A criminal justice professor who has worked at various California colleges pleaded guilty Thursday after being charged with setting a series of blazes near the massive Dixie Fire in 2021. Gary Stephen Maynard, 49, pleaded guilty to...
South Africa Evacuates Small Coastal Communities Near Cape Town as Wildfires Burn Out of Control
By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Residents were evacuated from small coastal towns near Cape Town in South Africa as wildfires swept down from surrounding mountains and burned out of control for a second day on Tuesday. Authorities...
Man Says He Was on Meth When He Started GA Wildfire
Joe Kovac Jr. - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution MACON — A man who busted into a remote cabin with an ax and set fire to a couch, sparking a blaze that burned nearly 700 acres in Middle Georgia’s Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, has pleaded guilty to first-degree...
HI Officials Identify the Last of the 100 Known Victims of the Wildfire That Destroyed Lahaina
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — The last of the 100 known victims of the wildfire that destroyed Maui's historic town of Lahaina in August was identified Friday as a 70-year-old woman whose husband, sister and several other relatives also...
Colombia Declares a Disaster Because of Wildfires and Asks for International Help
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s government declared a disaster Thursday and asked for international help to combat raging wildfires that are expected to worsen in coming days due to warm, dry conditions associated with the El Niño weather phenomenon. Officials...