Wildfires - News
Some of CFA’s most experienced and distinguished CFA members have been awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) in recognition of their outstanding service to the community when the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honors List was announced. With more than 250 years of combined service between them, CFA’s seven recipients have contributed across bushfire management and community fire preparedness, incident management and operational command, training and development, and welfare...
Much has changed in the nearly four decades since the America Burning report was issued in 1973 and revisited in 1980. The number of fires and fire deaths in the United States has reduced dramatically and that progress has unfortunately led to fire safety taking a back seat to other social concerns that seem more pressing. To understand the headway that has been made and the challenges that remain, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) commissioned the Fire Protection Research Foundat...
Local community fire departments have an important role in wildfire prevention and prevention messaging. Did people know that almost 90% of wildfires in the United States are human-caused according to the Insurance Information Institute's statistics? The importance of reducing human-caused wildfires Wildfires do not stay within artificial boundaries, and a wildfire burning in a natural area can quickly spread to areas where people live. According to Verisk's Wildfire Risk Analy...
As part of a month-long Fire Kills campaign, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service is reminding residents to stay safe during summer as they make the most of the weather and enjoy the outdoors. James Hunt, Watch Based Station Manager, said: “Many of us are well aware of the need for fire safety in the home, but it is important to be just as careful to avoid the risk of fire when you are outside. If you’re intending to take out your tent, get your caravan back on the road or simply...
Four C-130 aircraft from the California and Nevada Air National Guard, worked alongside the U.S. Forest Service, during annual refresher and certification training with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS), from May 4 – May 7, 2021. During the training, these aircraft, equipped with MAFFS units, practiced dispersing water in rugged, mountainous terrain, as they are guided by lead planes flown by members of the U.S. Forest Service. Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System MAFFS...
“One step in the green, one step in the burned,” says Operating Commander Marco Marques. Such a statement is not just lip service. His wildfire fighters are elite troops who belong to the Portuguese National Republican Guard (GNR) and fight daily on the borderline. The GNR can only successfully fight forest fires from the very front line. They complete over 4,000 deployments a year, setting out in helicopters or emergency vehicles to tackle smoldering fires before they have a chance...
The NFPA Fire & Life Safety Policy Institute has released the 2020 Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem™: Year in Review report. This latest edition examines the U.S. and international events in the last year including massive wildfires, the Beirut port explosion, and another exterior cladding high-rise fire that highlights how gaps, cracks, and weaknesses in our global fire and life safety system become tragedies. The Fire & Life Safety Ecosystem™ is a framework NFPA dev...
The Big Bear Fire Department has a new way to report illegal fireworks. The new Illegal Firework Reporting System offers an easy and anonymous way to report the use and sale of personal fireworks. Anyone can now go on to the Department’s website or simply scan a QR Code and anonymously report the use or sales of illegal fireworks by completing a simple online reporting form. Fire Department Investigators will respond promptly to the reported location where fireworks are currently in use,...
As California continues to recover from the historic 2020 fire season, and faces continued severe fire threat and extreme drought conditions in 2021, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) is deploying new resources to protect California communities and augment the state’s fire and rescue mutual aid system. Currently, Cal OES transferred nine new Type VI engines and one Type III engine to local fire jurisdictions as part of the California Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid Sy...
MSA Bristol is a foremost supplier of personal protective equipment (PPE) to firefighters across the globe. Its specialist, in-house managed services team are now responsible for the inspection, washing, and repair of all structural, urban search and rescue, and wildland PPE for Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s 6,660 firefighters, including fire coats, trousers, hoods, and gloves. As part of the contract, MSA Bristol regularly collects PPE from key fire service hubs which are spread thr...
KME Fire Apparatus., a subsidiary of REV Group® and a foremost manufacturer of fire apparatus, announces that Campbell Supply Company is expanding its portfolio and will represent KME Fire Apparatus in designated counties within Eastern Pennsylvania. “At Campbell Supply, our business philosophy has been based on two guiding principles, honesty and integrity,” said Scott Campbell, President of Campbell Supply Company. “It has always been very important to establish a good r...
Rosenbauer presents a new fire truck for fighting forest fires. It meets both Category 3 of EN 1846-2 for all-terrain fire engines and specific requirements for protecting the vehicle crew, as defined, for example, in the French standard NFS 61-517 and NFS 61-518. These include a thermal self-protection system and a driver's cab equipped with a roll-over cell. With its compact dimensions, low center of gravity, and single tires, the all-wheel-drive vehicle is ideally suited for use in rough terr...
Just as compact as a conventional fire extinguisher or a bucket syringe, but with a much higher extinguishing performance, the portable CAFS fire extinguisher, RFC POLY Portex from Rosenbauer is also versatile, thanks to its practical accessories. In the event of a fire alarm in a public building, a fire watch at a large event or a smaller fire-fighting operation, with the RFC POLY Portex, fire safety crews are not only quickly on site, but also have the appropriate extinguishing force availabl...
Grass, crop, and woodland fires can have a devastating impact, injuring or killing wildlife, destroying property and livelihoods, and even putting people’s lives at risk. As users enter peak season for these types of incidents, residents, workers, and visitors are being urged to do their bit to reduce the number of accidental grass fires across the county. Most grass fires happen between May and September when grassland can get very dry, and many are caused by out-of-control bonfires...
Northern Minnesota’s International Falls Fire Department (IFFD), together with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, quickly extinguished a dangerous wildfire on the shore of Rainy Lake. On May 18th, amid elevated fire danger conditions and high winds, the fire jumped across open water from Frank Island to Voyageurs National Park on the U.S. mainland, but those responding swiftly extinguished it with help from a new Lake Assault Boats fireboat. Fireboat stationed on rainy lake...
More than 4.5 million U.S. properties are at a high-to-extreme risk of wildfire, with more than two million of those in California alone, according to estimates from Verisk, a foremost global data analytics provider. To help promote the importance of building resilient communities for property insurers and their customers, the National Fire Protection Association is providing Verisk with robust data on communities engaging in wildfire mitigation efforts. Verisk will leverage the data from the N...
Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (Con Fire) and Rodeo-Hercules Fire announced they will conduct wildland fire “burn” training in Rodeo in conjunction with Phillips 66, Cal Fire and other agencies during morning hours beginning May 16th, 2021. Training will continue between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. each day thereafter from May 16 to May 27, 2021. Phillips 66 personnel, along with other fire agencies, will participate in the training which will take place in Rodeo in the large op...
In the dry heat of the high desert, the California and Nevada Air National Guard, the U.S. Forest Service, CAL FIRE, and multiple other fire-fighting agencies across the United States are performing their annual certification training for the aerial fire-fighting mission with MAFFS (Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System), from May 4 – May 7, 2021. The success of this training is built on the trusted partnerships between the fire-fighting agencies, having forged their tactical expertise su...
Johnson Controls, the globally renowned company for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings and architect of OpenBlue connected solutions, has unveiled its new ANSUL LVS Non-Fluorinated Liquid Suppression Agent. The new agent is manufactured without the use of per-fluorinated chemicals and is performance tested to ensure maximum effectiveness. It is now available worldwide. LVS Non-Fluorinated Agent LVS Non-Fluorinated Agent works by rapidly knocking down flames, then blanketing the fuel and...
The Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS) program is redesigning the forecasting of fire danger in Australia. It aims to improve public safety and reduce the impacts of bushfires by improving the way that fire danger is calculated and communicated. As one enters the second quarter of 2021, the AFDRS Program is approaching major design milestones that will allow states and territories to trial the new system in parallel with current fire danger ratings. The trial of the AFDRS is a key ste...
The fire and rescue service is thanking partners as the incident on Marsden Moor is brought to a close. Teams from West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS), Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), other emergency partners, the National Trust, Kirklees Council, landowners and gamekeepers, Mountain Rescue, Plymouth Brethren Response team, and other groups joined together to tackle the blaze following a call to WYFRS at around 7 pm on Sunday, 25 April 2021. Day and ni...
The South Carolina Forestry Commission has issued a red flag alert for Wednesday, April 21, and Thursday, April 22 due to the elevated risk for wildfires. As a result, the Richland County Fire Marshal’s Office has prohibited all “General Debris” burning in unincorporated areas of the County until the Red Flag has been lifted and fire conditions improve. This includes any open burning not associated with agricultural, cooking, or recreational purposes.
GreenScreen is the first ecolabel for PFAS-free firefighting foams which preserve the environment and health. This certification attests the foam is totally free of fluorinated derivatives (PFAS including PFOS, PFOA, and PFCs). Some of them are recognized as Persistent in the environment, Bioaccumulable, and Toxic to living organisms. GreenScreen certification is supported by Clean Production Action, an independent organization promoting the use of inherently safer chemicals in products and PF...
The summer is finally here (apparently) and after a long 18 months dealing with a global pandemic, the reins have been loosened and social gatherings are on the cards. Barbecues, garden parties, camping, and more, there are plenty of ways to get out and enjoy any good weather they may get this summer. They hate to be a party pooper, but all of these can pose risk of fire so they’re going to help the users with some top tips to reduce that risk as stay safe over the summer months. Prevent...
Johnson Controls, the globally renowned company for smart, healthy and sustainable building solutions and architect of OpenBlue connected solutions, has announced the launch of Chemguard NFF 3x3 UL201 Foam Concentrate. NFF technology This new, patent-pending Non-Fluorinated Foam (NFF) technology provides fast and effective fire suppression on most Class B hydrocarbon and polar solvent fuel fires. With a longer drain time than most AR-AFFFs, this foam blanket also delivers excellent post-exting...
South Yorkshire’s firefighters have a new weapon to help them tackle moorland wildfires- off road vehicles. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue has added two Polaris vehicles to its fleet, helping crews to respond more effectively to wildfires and other incidents, which might be hard to reach using a traditional fire engine. Polaris vehicles fitted with water pumps Fire crews will spend the next few months being trained in their use The vehicles are to be fitted with water pumps, which c...
With warmer and dryer weather setting in, the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service wishes to remind the public that lighting grass fires is not only illegal, but also a danger to its firefighters, following an incident that resulted in a firefighter sustaining a musculoskeletal injury. At 08:08 pm, on Tuesday, 30th March 2021, Joint Fire Control received the first call of a grass fire on Mynydd Cadle Common, in Penlan, Swansea, Wales and crews from Morriston and Swansea Central were deplo...
Fire danger ratings are a shorthand way of describing the potential level of danger from bushfires. Ratings are used in many parts of the world and are especially important in the Australian context due to the prevalence of flammable vegetation and hot and dry conditions. The Australian landscape has evolved with fire, which is a natural part of many ecosystems. However, under certain conditions these environments are dangerous to communities, infrastructure, property, ecosystems and population...
Erickson Incorporated, a worldwide foremost operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft announce three new USFS Firefighting contracts for the upcoming 2021 wildfire season. The USFS cooperates with CAL FIRE, US Department of Interior agencies Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs, on aerial firefighting contracts. Erickson has been working for the US Forest Service on firefighting contracts since 1995 and is a global front-runner in aeri...
Today’s firefighting and wildfire boots need to do more than just keep your feet dry, they need to keep you protected in many other ways. Firefighting boots have come a long way from those clunky rubber boots of old. Even though leather boots have been around for years, many fire departments opt to purchase rubber boots over leather boots. Many times, the decision frankly comes down to cost. While rubber boots are cheaper, cost should not be the only factor that comes into play. Boot Weig...
