Robert Schaulis - Times-Standard, Eureka, Calif. Last week, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Wildfire Caucus, introduced legislation to the Senate designed to “fix our forests.” A bipartisan bill cosponsored by Sens. John...
Californians Urged to Prepare Now for Fire Season
Darrell Smith - The Sacramento Bee SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians must fortify their homes against the ongoing threat of wildfire home by home, neighbor by neighbor and community by community. That’s the message state and local fire authorities are working to...
Wildfire in Sheridan County (ND) Injures Two Firefighters
BRAD NYGAARD and BLAKE NICHOLSON The Bismarck Tribune, N.D. (TNS) Two firefighters were injured while helping battle a wildfire in Sheridan County over the weekend, and one of them was flown to a Twin Cities burn hospital. The blaze Saturday also destroyed a wildland...
Evacuations Ordered for McDowell County (NC) Wildfire
The McDowell News, Marion, N.C. (TNS) Firefighters were on the scene of a wildfire in northern McDowell County Tuesday afternoon. Evacuations were ordered for the area around the fire. As of 4:15 p.m., emergency personnel were managing the fire on Armstrong Creek...
Steve Soboroff Bows out as L.A. Fire Recovery Czar, With Some Parting Shots
Julia Wick Los Angeles Times (TNS) LOS ANGELES — In his last week as L.A.'s fire recovery czar, Steve Soboroff said he was shut out of high-level planning almost from the start, raising questions about why Mayor Karen Bass chose him and whether rebuilding from the...
State, Federal Cuts Leave Unanswered Questions for Wildfire Season
Luke Thompson - Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash. Apr. 10—When the Retreat Fire exploded into a serious threat for people and homes last summer, forcing the closure of U.S. Highway 12 for three and a half weeks, it took the combined efforts of several agencies to contain...
HI Hotel, Cruise Ship Tax Hike Aims to Reduce Wildfire, Climate Risk
Dan Nakaso The Honolulu Star-Advertiser (TNS) Tourists would collectively pay millions of dollars more each year to stay in Hawaii hotels and on cruise ships to help the state address climate change and reduce the risk of future wildfires under a bill approved Tuesday...
Pilot Dies After His Helicopter Crashes While Extinguishing a Fire in South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A helicopter crashed during an operation to extinguish a fire in southeastern South Korea on Sunday, killing its pilot, the local fire agency said. A local fire office said that the fire at the hill in the city of Daegu had been put out about...
Large SC Wildfires Contained as Teens Charged With Starting Fire With Cigarettes
PICKENS, S.C. (AP) — Two wildfires that started lose to each other in the South Carolina mountains and burned an area over half the size of Hilton Head Island are nearly contained, authorities said. Four teens who did not fully extinguish their cigarettes while hiking...
MT Senator, Who Started Aerial Firefighting Company, Wants to End USFS Aircraft Inspections
JOSHUA MURDOCK - Independent Record, Helena, Mont. U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Republican representing Montana and the founder of multi-national aerial firefighting company Bridger Aerospace, is trying to end annual U.S. Forest Service inspections of aircraft contracted...
Firefighters have high levels of PFAS in aftermath of Maui (HI) fires
Nina Wu - The Honolulu Star-Advertiser Maui firefighters who responded to the August 2023 Maui wildfires had the highest levels of “forever chemicals ” known as PFAS in their bloodstream when compared with other first responders a month later. PFAS, or per-fluoroalkyl...
On the Heels of a Dry Winter, Firefighters Around the US Brace for Wildfire Risks
By TY ONEIL and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — From the southwestern U.S. to Minnesota, Iowa and even parts of New Jersey, it seemed that winter never materialized. Many communities marked their driest winters on record, snowpack was...