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19 Firefighters Lost in Arizona’s Yarnell Hill Fire
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On Sunday, June 30, shifting winds created a situation where the Granite Hills Hot Shot Crew became surrounded by the fire, resulting in the loss of 19 elite firefighters. This is the largest loss of life to a wildfire in 80 years. Our thoughts and prayers for healing are with the families and loved ones of these firefighters, and the people of Yarnell and Prescott, Arizona.
For more information on the fallen firefighters click here.
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After the Yarnell Hill Fire:
We've lost Our Middle Ground
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In this op-ed to AZcentral.com, environmental historian and professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University, Stephen Pyne, discusses the path forward after the devastating loss of life at the Yarnell Fire. He says this about the Cohesive Strategy, "If it succeeds it will serve as a fire constitution, a messy mechanism by which the hundreds of competing interests might work through the necessary compromises with some political legitimacy. We could move fire management beyond emergency response." Read more...
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We are starting this newsletter during fire season to keep in touch, and would like to invite feedback, comments, and suggestions for articles to feature in future editions. Correspondence can be sent to Katie Lighthall.
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Yarnell Hill Fire Conditions
The Yarnell Hill Fire was started by lightning on land dominated by piñon pine, manzanita, and oak brush. In this article, Arizona Deputy State Forester Jerry Payne talks about the overgrown conditions of the land, and the difficulty of addressing the state’s fuels treatment needs with limited funding. Although treatments had been done around homes and roads, the wildlands beyond the community remained a threat. Read more...
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Mitigation Saved Homes in Waldo Canyon Fire
Last year's Waldo Canyon Fire was Colorado's most destructive wildfire....until this year's Black Forest Fire. We learned a lot about the value of mitigation and preparation from the Waldo Canyon Fire. As explained in Lessons Learned from Waldo Canyon, a report from the national public-private collaborative Fire Adapted Communities, Cedar Heights was saved by a lot of firefighters, some cooperative weather, a community of vigilant homeowners, and by a fuels treatment project in neighboring Solitude Park. Read more...
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Cohesive Strategy is Collaboration and Coordination
In this short video, Jim Douglas, Department of Interior, Acting Director of Wildland Fire, explains how the Cohesive Strategy will help wildland fire agencies with collaboration and coordination of fire management activities across the nation. Phase III of the Cohesive Strategy is progressing with work on the National Risk Analysis and the National Action Plan now underway. For more information, visit the Forests and Rangelands website.
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Online Tools - Real-time Incident Map
The Wildfire X website offers a real-time incident map that shows the locations of wildfires throughout the country, and allows you to zoom in to see the fire perimeters, prevailing wind directions, or view wildfire potential at multiple scales. The map allows the user to connect to real-time social media posts about the fires through Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube. Today's map clearly shows what a hot, dry fire season 2013 is, with multiple fires throughout the West and Alaska. View map...
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