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Wildfires

BLM sees greater use for fire breaks on rangeland

Kimberlee Kruesi The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho)

Last updated Thursday, May 24, 2012 - 10:42am

SHOSHONE, Idaho -- As he squinted into a sea of native grasses, Joe Russell pointed to a cluster of tightly packed sagebrush.

Russell stood on the east side of a dirt road that winds up from the Kimama Fire Station, east of Shoshone. He quickly swept his arm to the other side of the road, pointing out the contrast between the plants on both sides.

"Can you see the difference?" he asked. "Do you see how the sagebrush is dispersed on this side?"

On the road's western side, the sagebrush was scarce for the first few hundred feet out from the road. Green grasses filled the gap. The arrangement is a designed effort to deter the spread of wildfires, and one that's quickly gaining attention from state and wildlife officials.

As a fire ecologist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Russell usually spends his time trying to repair the damage made by a wildfire on public lands. However, his job also includes finding ways to suppress wildfires.

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Rain, cooler temps slow Toole County wildfire

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, May 18, 2012 - 1:22pm

SALT LAKE CITY -- State officials say rain and cooler temperatures have helped slow a fast-moving wildfire in western Utah that burned hundreds of acres and temporarily shut down a highway.

Utah Division of Forestry spokesm

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Fire burns through trees on the Hewlett wildfire in the Poudre Canyon northwest of Fort Collins, Colo., on Thursday, May 17, 2012. More than 50 homes were evacuated on Thursday. The fire has grown from 1.5 square miles to 8 square miles in the last day as erratic wind gusts of up to 50 mph moved into the area fueled by thunderstorms that didnít produce rain. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Firefighters battle blazes across West

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, May 18, 2012 - 11:49am

More firefighters are on their way to a fire that has burned across more than 11 square miles in northern Colorado and is approaching a reservoir for the city of Greeley.

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A slurry bomber drops fire retardant on a wildfire burning near the community of Crown King, Monday, May 14, 2012. The fire in Crown King began on private land Sunday and grew to more than 4 1/2 square miles, destroying two buildings and one trailer, Prescott National Forest spokeswoman Debbie Maneely said. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Tom Tingle)

Crews battling Ariz. wildfires fight high winds

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - 10:29am

CROWN KING, Ariz. — High winds increased the acreage of a northern Arizona wildfire Tuesday, but also blew flames away from an historic mining town.

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NM unveils new wildfire-warning system

Susan Montoya Bryan The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, May 7, 2012 - 5:03pm

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and state forestry officials on Monday unveiled a new statewide email notification system for alerting residents of potential dangers from wildfire.

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Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson, right, talks to U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, left, and Regional Forester Corbin Newman, center, about wildfire response after a news conference at the Sandia Ranger Station in Tijeras, N.M on Thursday, April 26, 2012. Federal officials expect the 2012 season to be just as active as last year, when historic fires charred hundreds of square miles across parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Forest Service expects busy fire season

Susan Montoya Bryan The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, April 26, 2012 - 5:12pm

TIJERAS, N.M. -- The chief of the U.S. Forest Service says he expects this year's fire season to be just as active as last year, when historic fires charred hundreds of square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and elsewhere.

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Pitkin County deputy sheriff Parker Lathrop, left, and Aspen deputy fire chief Rick Balentine return from surveying a wildfire, Wednesday, April 4, 2012, east of Aspen, Colo. A response from the Aspen Fire Department as well as mutual aid from the Snowmass Fire Department was able to contain the fire and protect the surrounding structures on the property. (AP Photo/The Aspen Daily News, Chris Council)

Fire danger high in parts of Utah, Mountain West

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, April 5, 2012 - 9:21am

DENVER -- Warm, windy weather is raising the fire danger in the Mountain West.

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Vehicles and other debris are left burned at a home along Kuehster Road in Conifer, Colo., on Thursday, March 29, 2012, where a wildfire broke out on Monday. The fire has damaged or destroyed about 25 homes and has blackened about 6 square miles in the mostly rural area southwest of Denver's populous suburbs. More than 500 firefighters were at the blaze Thursday, hoping to expand their containment line in case hot and windy weather returns this weekend as predicted. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Helen H. Richardson)

Firefighters race to contain Colorado wildfire

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, March 30, 2012 - 10:14am

CONIFER, Colo. — Residents of about 180 homes who fled a wildfire southwest of Denver earlier this week were waiting Friday to hear when they could return while other families were welcoming the chance to go back to their neighborhood.

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A slurry bomber drops retardant on the Lower North Fork Fire in Jefferson County, Colo., Tuesday, March 27, 2012. Investigators were trying to determine whether a controlled burn designed to minimize wildfire risk reignited and became a stubborn mountain wildfire that forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes and may have caused the deaths of two people. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, RJ Sangosti)

Colorado Wildfires

The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 10:55am

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Fires top out trees as the blaze just about comes over the ridge near Reynolds Ranch Monday, March 26, 2012 in Conifer, Colo.A fast-moving wildfire destroyed at least five houses in the mountains west of Denver on Monday. (AP Photo/John Leyba,The Denver Post)

Utah firefighters join effort against deadly Colo. wildfire

Dan Elliott The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 10:35am

CONIFER, Colo. — Bolstered by reinforcements, fire crews were focusing Wednesday on building containment lines around the 7-square-mile wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes in the mountains southwest of Denver and may have claimed two lives.

About 400 firefighters from several states, including Utah, were at the blaze and fire managers hoped to get help from air tankers for a second straight day. The fire, which broke out Monday, has quickly spread because strong winds. Until now, firefighters have been focused on protecting homes.

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In a Sunday, March 18, 2012 photo provided by the Yuma, Colo., Pioneer, a wildfire sends up a huge wall of smoke, forcing authorities to temporarily close a section of U.S. Highway 34 east of Yuma County, Colo., when the fire filled the skies with so much smoke that firefighters couldn't see the flames. Evacuated residents of the small Colorado town of Eckley have been allowed to return home after firefighters contained most of the wildfire. (AP Photo/The Yuma Pioneer, Tony Rayl)

Colo. wildfire causes evacuation of Colo. town

Steven K. Paulson The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, March 20, 2012 - 10:23am

DENVER -- Evacuated residents of the small Colorado town of Eckley and surrounding areas have been allowed to return home after a wildfire on the state's northeastern plains that injured firefighters and filled the skies with thick smoke that hid the flames from response crews and closed a highway.

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(MATTHEW ARDEN HATFIELD/Standard-Examiner) A grass fire in western Weber County is extinguished last week.

Will fire season start early in Northern Utah?

Michael McFall Standard-Examiner

Last updated Monday, March 19, 2012 - 6:11am

OGDEN — A dry winter and the rising temperatures of the impending spring mean fire season could start early.

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Cascade fire, Idaho Transportation Department

Idaho governor says lack of logging puts state at risk of major wildfire

Sean Cockerham McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - 6:16pm

WASHINGTON -- Idaho is at big risk for a catastrophic wildfire because of the lack of logging, Gov. Butch Otter told members of Congress on Tuesday.

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Elderly man sorry he caused big Reno blaze

Martin Griffith, Scott Sonner The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, January 21, 2012 - 9:16am

RENO, Nev.-- An elderly man discarding fireplace ashes accidentally touched off the brush fire that raged south of Reno, destroying 29 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee the flames, authorities said.

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At least 300 people were forced to leave their homes, and officers were working to evacuate additional residents in the fires' eastward path. Photo courtesy of Angelika Harden-Norman

Montana wildfires force evacuations

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, January 5, 2012 - 12:36pm

BROWNING, Mont. -- Two wildfires raging overnight on Montana's Blackfeet Indian Reservation burned thousands of acres, forced scores to evacuate and destroyed several buildings, officials said early Thursday.

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