June 29, 2022 2:22 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/06/29/northern-ca-wildfire-threatens-500-buildings/ BRIDGEPORT, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire that erupted in Northern California forced evacuations as it threatened about 500 homes and other buildings Tuesday, authorities said. The Rices Fire erupted at around 2 p.m. near the Yuba River in Nevada County and had spread to more than 500 acres (202 hectares) by nightfall,…
June 21, 2022 7:16 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/06/21/biden-signs-off-on-hefty-pay-raise-for-federal-firefighters/ By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has signed off on giving federal wildland firefighters a hefty raise for the next two fiscal years, a move that affects more than 16,000 firefighters and comes as much of the West braces for a difficult wildfire season. Pay raises for…
June 16, 2022 6:56 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/06/16/warm-dry-breezy-weather-to-challenge-fire-crews-in-az/ FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Fire crews battling a pair of wildfires in northern Arizona were expecting some growth Thursday because of warm, dry and breezy conditions, officials said. Both blazes were moving through grass, brush and pine trees on the northern outskirts of Flagstaff, a mountainous city that’s home to Northern Arizona…
June 14, 2022 1:21 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/06/14/hellish-fires-low-pay-trauma-californias-forest-service-firefighters-face-a-morale-crisis/ Alex Wigglesworth – Los Angeles Times Chris Mariano became a federal wildland firefighter because he wanted to help protect the Northern California landscapes and communities he’d grown to love. Years later, after working his way up to squad boss of the elite Truckee hotshot crew for the U.S. Forest Service, Mariano resigned in a viral letter that is the…
June 13, 2022 4:29 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/06/13/flagstaff-wildfire-forces-evacuations-steadily-grows/ By FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Evacuations are in effect in parts of northern Arizona as a wildfire about 6 miles (9 kilometers) north of Flagstaff steadily grew Sunday, authorities said. Coconino National Forest officials said the Pipeline Fire was reported at 10:15 a.m. by a fire lookout and…
June 8, 2022 8:35 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/06/08/government-plans-to-fine-id-radio-operator-for-assisting-firefighters/ BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Federal Communications Commissions has proposed a $34,000 fine against an Idaho man that the agency says interfered with firefighters’ radio communications during a wildfire last year when he alerted them to hazards in the region. The FCC said alleged interference happened while the U.S. Forest Service…
June 6, 2022 2:57 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/06/06/or-fire-agencies-plan-to-strike-small-fires-before-they-grow/ Vickie Aldous, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore. Jun. 5—Fire agencies plan to aggressively attack fires while they’re small in a bid to protect southwest Oregon from out-of-control wildfires. Managers said they hope the fire season that started Wednesday will be a repeat of last year. Firefighters in 2021 jumped on hundreds of rural…
June 2, 2022 6:39 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/06/02/helicopter-water-drop-hits-hotshot-crew-at-hermit-peak-nm-fire-three-injured/ A helicopter hit firefighters with a water drop at the Hermit Peak fire Sunday, injuring three of them. The incident took place at 10:30 a.m. at the fire, which is been burning since early April in the Santa Fe National Forest. Two of the firefighters suffered relatively minor injuries. The third required…
May 29, 2022 1:09 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/05/29/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-taos-hotshot-crew/ By ELISE KAPLAN Albuquerque Journal SIPAPU, N.M. (AP) — After 14 days fighting the fires threatening northern New Mexico, Tyler Freeman went for a run on his day off. In the distance, he could see the plume of smoke from the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire. “It’s like that Sunday night feeling where…
May 26, 2022 1:15 pm Source: https://www.wildlandfirefighter.com/2022/05/26/critical-fire-condition-warnings-issued-across-us-southwest/ Warnings of critical fire conditions blanketed much of the U.S. Southwest on Saturday, as crews in northern New Mexico worked to stop the growth of the nation’s largest active wildfire. The 7-week-old fire, the largest in New Mexico history, has burned 491 square miles (1,272 square kilometers) of forest in rugged terrain…
