File Photo> An air tanker drops retardant onto the Gravel Pit Fire in Montana in August 2023. (Inciweb photo.) Two aerial firefighting jets have been sidelined due to corrosion believed to be caused by a recently approved fire retardant used by the U.S. Forest Service in 2023. Last year, two large air tankers deployed a magnesium chloride-based fire retardant while battling wildfires, leading to corrosion in critical areas of the aircraft, the Billings Gazette reports. The National Transportation Safety Board, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Forest Service are cond ..read more

Firefighters make they their way up a hill as the El Dorado fire approaches in Yucaipa, California, on Sept. 1, 2020. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS) Alicia Clanton Bloomberg News (TNS) Restoring coastal ecosystems with oysters in Florida, protecting forests from wildfire in California and maintaining a cultural site (the Pearl Harbor National Memorial) in Hawaii: These are a few of the paid positions that job seekers can now apply for through the Biden administration’s American Climate Corps. The first batch of job listings under the program went live on Monday, timed to Earth Day. So ..read more

Photo: Inciweb / BAER Specialist Micah Kiesow Assessing Soil Burn Severity in Tecolote Creek Headwaters from Vantage Point within Hermits Peak Burned Area Maya Hilty – The Santa Fe New Mexican Apr. 21—As Brandon Glenn hiked through a light, open area of the Santa Fe National Forest northeast of the city Thursday morning, he paused and bent over a circle of burned earth about six feet in diameter, skimming the back of his hand over the ashes. Cold. Although the U.S. Forest Service recently has detected no heat from piles of downed trees burned across nearly 1,000 acres of Pacheco Canyon and H ..read more

Noelle Phillips – The Denver Post Colorado residents can expect a normal year for wildfires through July, but state officials on Wednesday warned that doesn’t mean there won’t be large, potentially catastrophic fires — especially later this summer and early fall as the weather becomes hotter and drier. The fire forecast through July calls for normal wildfire conditions, thanks to an average snowpack in the mountains combined with temperatures a shade above average and moisture slightly below average, said Michael Morgan, director of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. Those ..read more

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER, REBECCA BOONE, CLAUDIA LAUER and CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — As unpredictable wildfires roared across Maui last August, the head of the emergency management agency dragged his heels about returning to the island amid the unfolding crisis, while a broad communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts, according to a report released Wednesday. Communications problems were also encountered with the Hawaiian Electric Company, with power and emergency workers unable to confirm that power lines were d ..read more

Stephen Hobbs – The Sacramento Bee A California lawmaker wants the state to consider expanding the list of insurance discounts homeowners are eligible for if they take steps to protect their properties from wildfires. At a hearing Wednesday, Assemblyman Damon Connolly, a Democrat from San Rafael, said he wants he wants to make sure that homeowners are getting the proper deductions for the work that they do to mitigate fire risk. Currently, the Department of Insurance requires companies to reduce prices for people take action on their individual properties and ..read more

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER, REBECCA BOONE and CLAUDIA LAUER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — When wildfires broke out across Maui last August, some firefighters carried victims piggyback over downed power lines to safety and sheltered survivors inside their engines. Another drove a moped into a burning neighborhood again and again, whisking people away from danger one at a time. But despite devoting nearly all the personnel and vehicles it had to the fight on Aug. 8, 2023, the Maui Fire Department was no match for an unprecedented series of blazes including one t ..read more

By THOMAS W. AURNHAMMER After moving from New Mexico to Colorado, I must admit that I had a lot to learn about fighting fire in the wildland. I was used to having resources in my former fire department such as water and somewhat adequate staffing. Providing fire protection in rural America was much different than in a municipal setting. I spent considerable time contemplating the similarities and differences between structural and wildland firefighting. One of the most disturbing similarities was that both disciplines seem to have the same issue with multiple line-of-duty deaths (LODDs). When ..read more

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canada’s emergency preparedness minister warned Wednesday the country’s wildfire season could be more explosive than last year when it led to unprecedented smoke conditions across much of the country and into the United States. Persistent drought and months of above-average temperatures have raised the risk of a repeat of last year’s record-breaking wildfires, prompting federal ministers to wave a red warning flag about the desperate need to address climate change. “We can expect that the wildfire season will start sooner, end later and potentially be more explosive ..read more

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press GLYKA NERA, Greece (AP) — In a drill at a 12th century monastery near Athens, a fast-approaching wildfire threatens to trap clergy and a group of people attending a baptism. Volunteers and firefighters race to pull them to safety through clouds of red smoke, as a drone buzzing overhead sends live video of the rescue to a national coordination center. Members of the baptism party are played by actors hired for the day by the Fire Service and the regional authority, and smoke flares are used to mimic fire conditions.   The exercise held Thursday and mul ..read more