Matagal usado pelo tráfico na Cidade de Deus será queimado

Matagal usado pelo tráfico na Cidade de Deus será queimado

9 January 2009

published by oglobo.globo.com

Brazil — Uma área de mais de dez mil metros quadrados de matagal localizada nos fundos da Cidade de Deus, em Jacarepaguá, será incendiada pelo Corpo de Bombeiros a pedido da Polícia Militar, como informa reportagem publicada neste sábado pelo jornal O Globo(acesso à íntegra somente para assinantes) . O objetivo é expulsar traficantes escondidos naquele ponto, na localidade conhecida como Caratê. Com a queima do matagal, a área ficará descoberta, possibilitando a visão total do lugar.

– Aquela região é um charco. É de difícil locomoção. Há manilhas enormes espalhadas que os traficantes usam como túneis. Eles montam acampamento e nos veem. Nós não conseguimos vê-los. É preciso limpar aquela área – disse um policial militar.

O Corpo de Bombeiros pretende usar um equipamento chamado pinga-fogo e uma técnica que impede que as chamas se alastrem e causem danos em regiões próximas. O pinga-fogo é utilizado no combate a incêndios florestais. Para evitar que o fogo se expanda, queima-se uma parte da mata ainda intacta e que seria atingida pelas chamas. O incêndio controlado poderá acontecer já neste fim de semana ou na segunda-feira, segundo o coronel Paulo César Lopes, comandante da 2º Comando de Policiamento de Área (CPA). O Corpo de Bombeiros aguarda o resultado de um estudo de impacto ambiental.

Operação ocupa últimos redutos do tráfico na Cidade de Deus

Policiais militaresapreenderam 113 tabletes de maconha em operação sexta-feira na Cidade de Deus, em Jacarepaguá, ocupada desde o final do ano passado pela polícia. Este foi o saldo da operação que marcou o início da terceira etapa da ocupação da comunidade. A polícia também conseguiu ocupar a última área ainda dominada por traficantes, na localidade conhecida como Karatê, um dos pontos mais pobres da favela. Um adolescente de 16 anos foi detido. Uma central de TV a cabo clandestina foi desmontada e 38 construções irregulares, demolidas.

Uma creche abandonada serve como quartel improvisado para os policiais, que usam mapas para identificar as áreas de ação. Ao todo, 200 policiais militares participaram do cerco. Fiscais da prefeitura aproveitaram a ocupação para ordenar o espaço. Derrubaram um muro que impedia a passagem de pedestres e demoliram outras construções que também invadiam as calçadas.

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Plots and hot spots: Rees says bushfires a bigger worry

Plots and hot spots: Rees says bushfires a bigger worry

16 January 2009

published by www.smh.com.au

Australia –NSW Premier Nathan Rees has called on Labor politicians agitating against his leadership to “get on with the job”.

Amid reports of dissatisfaction from senior Labor ministers with the Premier’s performance, Mr Rees today said he was more concerned with bushfires than internal political brawling.

“When I went to bed last night I was thinking about the rains and their affect on these fires and nothing else,” he said as he visited charred bushland in Londonderry, where fires tore through the area yesterday.

Asked what he would like to say to those within his party who have been attacking his credibility he said: “Get on with the job.”

He later added: “You can spend your whole life looking over your shoulder if you like but my job is to look out here, to be talking to the (Rural Fire Service) volunteers here today, saying thank you to them. To be talking to people like (property owners) Carol and Carl who have to defend their property overnight and to be making sure that the people of NSW know that they have a government and a leader who is on their side.

“And I won’t be diverted from that for a moment. I mean that genuinely.”

He praised the efforts of the volunteers who fought the Londonderry blaze yesterday as well as the many other volunteers across the state battling bushfires.

He also warned homeowners to prepare for extreme fire danger next week when temperatures are expected to climb above 40 degrees.

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Worker won’t have to pay wildfire restitution

Worker won’t have to pay wildfire restitution

16 January 2009

published by www.mercurynews.com

USA — The pipe grinder who accidentally started the 240,000-acre Zaca wildfire in Santa Barbara County won’t be forced to pay restitution to injured firefighters and others.

Jose Jesus Cabrera was grinding metal to repair a broken water pipeline when a spark started the blaze in July 2007. More than 40 people were injured during the fire fight.

Superior Court Judge Zel Canter ruled in Santa Maria this week that Cabrera won’t have to pay restitution.

Rancho La Laguna LLC, Cabrera and another ranch worker were originally charged with felony counts in connection with the fire, but those charges were dismissed in October.

Cabrera pleaded no contest to misdemeanor negligently setting a fire and he was fined $200 and placed on three years’ probation.

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Montana legislators unwilling to pay predicted ‘price of flame’

Montana legislators unwilling to pay predicted ‘price of flame’

4 January 2009

published by www.clarkforkchronicle.com

USA — After studying the problem of escalating wildfire suppression costs in Montana for nearly a year, an interim committee of legislators is recommending that the next legislature do more than fund government agencies to fight fires.

To solve the “long-term problem of fire costs,” the Montana legislature must address “conflicts” in fire policy and community development; assign mitigation responsibility to property owners; and retain the viability of the woods product industry.

In its recently released final report “The Price of Flame,” the 12-member Interim Fire Suppression Committee bluntly states, “If the legislature only provides funding and does not deal with the other issues, time, money, and effort will have been wasted on this project.”

Created in 2007, by lawmakers called into emergency session to deal with a $42 million fire season, the Committee’s primary goal is to find ways to reduce the costs and impacts of Montana wildfire [link to original article].

Their final report is full of observations and predictions, including the possibility that fire suppression costs in Montana may top $200 million annually and that it’s only a matter of time before Montana faces a really big, deadly, and economically crippling wildfire.

One of its conclusions is that “the state fire suppression agency” will have to “grow” by nearly 58 full-time employees and $4.7 million “in the coming years” to handle the state’s wildfire hazards.

The report offers a wealth of recommendations as well. Some are for immediate implementation, such as state and local governments “prioritizing fuels reduction in the wildland/urban interface” and implementing “as many projects as possible with current levels of funding.”

Others—nearly 20 pages worth—are “specific recommendations” that need legislative or some other action. Many of these recommendations are now moving through the legislative process as draft bills..

Additionally, the Committee is recommending six “for action” items for the General Legislature. Two pertain to agency funding. Another two concern “conflicts,” first in the development of the wildland/urban interface (WUI)—that area where human habitation meets wildland vegetation —and then between state and federal fire-response policies.

The report recommends that state and federal agencies meet before and after every fire season “to discuss fire suppression plans and policies and to review decisions…regarding policy, land management, cost sharing, and compensation to private entities and local fire and emergency response agencies.”

It also recommends discussion of “long-term wildfire policies” and identifying “differences in policies so that the state is prepared to deal with the differences during the wildfire season.”

Sen. John Cobb (R-Augusta) explains that state and federal firefighters are already “talking about firefighting but not about policy.”

The state is a “full suppression agency,” he says. The federal government believes in “appropriate management response,” which allows some wildfires to burn.

That’s their prerogative, he figures, until the fire escapes federal boundaries and bursts onto state or private lands. He uses the Meriweather Fire that ignited in a wilderness area north of Helena as an example.

“If they had just put it out, it would have saved $20 million,” he says.

The Committee also urges the General Legislature to address the issue of property-owner responsibility to prevent wildfires from occurring, as well as the viability of the logging and fuel reduction industry.

They state in the final report, “If fire and land management agencies, various governmental units, and homeowners and landowners are not making changes, then the legislature will make much less headway in mitigating…predictions.”

Lastly, the Fire Suppression Committee asks the legislature “to decide if it wants a committee to follow up on all the recommendations made here.”

The report continues, “Many do not need bills or laws implemented but there should be some entity to determine whether or not the recommendations are being followed up by other agencies and people.”

“I’m hoping that they will continue to do it in some form, as an interim committee or make it a standing committee,” says Senator Carole Williams (D-Missoula). “We could legislative services to staff on an ongoing basis.”

If not, the report recommends, the next legislature should set “a termination date” for the project.

For more information about the Interim Fire Suppression Committee, visithttp://leg.mt.gov/css/committees/interim/2007_2008/fire_suppression/default.asp.

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ARSON HEARING

Arson hearing

8 January 2009

published by latrobevalley.yourguide.com.au

Australia — An accused fire bug travelled around the Latrobe Valley igniting three separate bushfires on a statewide total fire ban day, a court has heard.

Rosemary Ann Harris, 31, of Moe has pleaded not guilty to 12 arson-related charges connected to bushfires at Dean’s Track, Driffield, Blair Road, Tyers and Creamery Road, Yinnar and a house fire at 4 Murphy Crescent, Traralgon.

All the fires were allegedly lit on 14 December, 2006, while the house fire occurred earlier in the year on 12 August.

The Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court heard how an 11 year-old child witnessed both Ms Harris and a 15 year-old youth ignite the Tyers and Driffield bushfires.

The first of the bushfires lit in Wirilda Park, Tyers was started with the aid of cardboard beer carton and a lighter, according to the 11 year-old.

The child and the teenager were passengers in the vehicle driven by Ms Harris.

“We went to the bush… and through steep hills… and (the teenager) had a beer box and he ripped up the box and lit up the pieces of cardboard on fire and threw it out the window into the bush,” the child told the court.

While the child alleged only the teenager had lit the cardboard and threw it into the bush, another of the vehicle’s passengers, a nine year-old child claimed Ms Harris was also involved.

“(Ms Harris) lit the cardboard, she was holding it and throwing it out the window… she did it seven times,” the nine year-old told the court.”

The nine year-old explained how the teenager cut up the beer carton and piled the cardboard pieces next to Ms Harris as she drove.

The child said Ms Harris would then pick up the pieces, have the teenager ignite them and throw them out the driver’s side window.

However the teenager told the court he was “cleaning out the car” and “throwing out rubbish”, not lighting up cardboard.

The teenager said the group had driven out to the park searching for a lookout to see how close the Cooper’s Creek fires were to the region, not to light a fire.

Both children also claimed Ms Harris and the teenager teamed up to light another fire in the Driffield area.

While both the Wirilda Park and Driffield fires occurred on the same day, the children told the court they believed the events took place on separate days.

They said the teenager used fuel taken from a motorcycle to light a bushfire in a pine forest, along Dean’s Track in Driffield.

According to the children, Ms Harris and the teenager poured petrol from a milk carton onto old mattresses and chairs dumped along the track, then lit the rubbish.

“(The teenager) tipped the petrol out of the milk bottle while (Ms Harris) was following him, she was lighting it and (the teenager) was tipping it,” the nine year-old said.

According to the 11 year-old, only the teenager was involved in the lighting of the fire.

Two men Patrick Quinn and Chris Sheppard were travelling in a four-wheel-drive when they spotted Ms Harris and the teenager near the blazing pile of debris.

“(Ms Harris) started yelling `chuck the bottle’ and (the teenager) did,” the 11 year-old told the court.

Mr Quinn said while closing in on the car, he saw the teenager throw something “the size of a football” into the shrubs.

“He threw something white into the scrub and then they jumped into the car,” Mr Quinn told the court.

“They tried to back out and they kept trying to get out… but we drove up beside them and once we stopped they got out.”

When he asked Ms Harris and the teenager what they were doing, they said they had noticed the fire and had stopped to extinguish it, according to Mr Quinn.

A first lieutenant with the Morwell CFA and with decades of experience fighting fires, Mr Quinn told the court how the bushfire in question could not have been going for more than five minutes.

“It was taking off very quickly, I was very surprised… it was very recently lit and obviously someone had lit it,” he said.

Mr Quinn alleged that Ms Harris “wanted to get out of there” and attempted to leave “several times”.

He said Ms Harris tried to leave her details and car registration with him, however he insisted that she remain to provide eyewitness information to the police when they arrived.

Mr Quinn alleged the teenager was “excited and a little bit panicky” throughout the episode.

However the teenager, who previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the Driffield bushfire, told the court Ms Harris had taken him there for a driving lesson, not to cause a bushfire.

“(Ms Harris) told me to get fuel out of the motorbike for the car and after that I put some in the car and left the rest in the milk bottle, which I put down at my feet in the car,” the teenager said.

“While we were driving along the road (inside the pine forest) we saw a bunch of mattresses.”

The teenager told the court he noticed that a small fire had already been lit on one of the mattresses, with flames reaching heights of about six inches.

The teenager told Ms Harris to stop the car so he could go to the toilet but instead grabbed the milk bottle filled with petrol and tipped some of its contents onto the fire.

“(Ms Harris) yelled at me what I was doing and when I turned to see what she said I saw the ute (driven by Mr Quinn),” the teenager told the court.

The teenager told the court he threw the milk bottle into the bushes to “hide” what he was doing.

The teenager said he later told Mr Quinn and Mr Sheppard that they had spotted the fire and suspected it had been deliberately lit and were trying to put it out.

But Mr Sheppard told the court he was suspicious of the teenager and Ms Harris, who both seemed “agitated” by their arrival.

The hearing continues tomorrow.

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Ghanaians urged to prevent incidents of bushfires

Ghanaians urged to prevent incidents of bushfires

15 January 2009

published by gbcghana.com

Ghana — Available statistics indicate that, the Volta region tops incidents of bushfires in the country. This was disclosed by the Volta Regional Public Affairs Director of the Ghana National Fire Service, Joy Kwaku Agbleze, at the launch of the Ghana National Agricultural Technical Class  Association Day celebration at Ziavi Dzogbe in the Ho Municipality. It had the theme, “Environmental Protection, a Pre-requisite for sustainable Agricultural Productivity towards Food Security and Income Generation”. 

Mr. Agbleze reminded the people that the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Law 229 prescribes laws and punishment for starting bushfire and anyone who falls foal of the law will be dealt with. 

The Regional Director of the Department of Food and Agriculture in a speech said many farm lands have lost their fertility due to perennial bushfires. He said herbs and plant medicines have been destroyed by bushfires and indiscriminate tree felling. He advised all, to plant trees to replenish degraded forests. 

The National President of the Association, Emmanuel Fritz Korwunu, urged all to protect the forest and the environment. 

The Paramount Chief of Ziavi Traditional Area, Togbe Koku Ayim advised the youth to take keen interest in agriculture, especially cocoa and coffee production.

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Glider crash sparks grass fire

Glider crash sparks grass fire

26 January 2009

published by www.stuff.co.nz

New Zealand — A glider that crashed in Waipukurau this afternoon started a grass fire that blocked off State Highway 2.

The glider, which was being flown by a flying instructor and a student, hit the lines and crashed in the Waipukurau Aerodrome about 2.30pm, the aerodrome’s chief flying instructor Ross Macdonald told Radio New Zealand.

The pair managed to escape the glider before the flames took hold of it and received only minor injuries.

Police said the crash started a grass fire that spread west and jumped Hatuma Rd.

The main fire was contained just over an hour later, central fire communications shift manager David Meikle said.

Six fire engines and two tankers were still at the scene dampening down hot spots, he said.

Hatuma Rd was closed off at the intersection with SH2 to allow emergency services to deal with the incident.

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Rural firefighter dies in crash with son

Rural firefighter dies in crash with son

3 January 2009

published by www.tulsaworld.com

USA — A rural firefighter was killed Saturday afternoon after being involved in a head-on collision with his son as they fought to extinguish a grass fire, officials said.

Firefighter John C. Myers, 61, of Pittsburg was driving a Wesley Fire Department truck south on a county road 13 miles east of U.S. 69 in Atoka County at 3:20 p.m. when he collided with Juston Myers, 31, of Pittsburg, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.

Details of the grass fire were unavailable.

OHP reported the two were fighting a grass fire and collided due to heavy smoke.

Although the OHP reported the collision occurred in Atoka County, the Atoka County Sheriff’s Department said the crash happened in Pittsburg County.

John C. Myers was trapped in the vehicle for more than 1½ hours.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Juston Myers, who was driving a 2000 Ford pickup truck, suffered trunk and external injuries and was treated at the scene, OHP said.

Juston Myers’ passenger, Clayton Rice, 30, of Pittsburg, was taken to a nearby hospital with head, leg and arm injuries, troopers said.

Seat belts were not in use in either vehicle, troopers said.

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Bushfire threat eases in Sydney’s north

Bushfire threat eases in Sydney’s north

13 January 2009

published by news.smh.com.au

Australia — Fire crews have contained a bushfire which earlier threatened several homes in Sydney’s north shore.

The fire broke out in bushland between East Killara and Davidson at about 2.30pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.

At the height of the emergency, firefighters were forced to put themselves and a truck between the blaze and at least three houses in Albany Crescent at East Killara.

The fire raced up a gully in the Garigal National Park, burning to the fencelines of the nearby homes.

More than 100 firefighters from the Rural Fire Service, NSW Fire Brigade and National Parks and Wildlife Service battled the blaze, backed by four waterbombing aircraft, including two air cranes.

An RFS spokesman said the fire had been contained and backburning was now underway, but crews would remain at the scene for most of the night.

“Thanks to the great efforts of firefighters supported by aircraft the fire threat has eased,” he said.

“We will be closely monitoring the fire overnight.”

He said firefighters would remain on high alert ahead of predicted high temperatures for the rest of the week across much of NSW.

“In the absence of rain it’s really a reminder to everyone that the bushfire season has arrived,” he said.

“Now is the time for people to prepare their houses if they haven’t done already.”

A total fire ban has been declared for 24 hours from midnight on Wednesday for the south-western district, eastern Riverina, southern Riverina and northern Riverina.

Temperatures are expected to climb to 41 at Wagga Wagga, Albury and Griffith on Wednesday.

Deniliquin will swelter with a predicted top of 43, along with Ivanhoe in the state’s west.

In Sydney, tops of 29 are expected in the city and 38 in the west.

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Insurers buck against fire-safety discounts

Insurers buck against fire-safety discounts

15 January 2009

published by www.missoulian.com

USA — Spending to stomp out wildfires could be reduced by training and rewarding homeowners to practice fire-safety defense, lawmakers said Wednesday as they presented several bills intended to cut costs.

The bills could force insurers to offer discounts to homeowners living in the wildland-urban interface who take fire precautions, and compel insurers to educate and inspect for preparedness.

Republican Sen. Rick Laible of Darby, a sponsor of two of the bills, said offering discounts on insurance premiums would reward homeowners for being fire-wise.

“You want to change people’s behavior, then give them an incentive,” Laible said.

Good fire-safety practices typically include things like clearing brush or using flame-retardant building materials.

Numerous insurers voiced their opposition to the bills during the hearing.

“We want to be part of the solution, but we don’t think it’s fair or correct to tell us to write inaccurate premiums to cover the risk,” said Bruce Spencer, spokesman for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

The bills are the first of more than 20 bills from members of the Fire Suppression Committee to be heard by lawmakers during this session.

The special committee was established in 2007, after an intense summer of raging fires cost the state $43 million.

A study released this last fall by Headwaters Economics, a Bozeman nonprofit, said it cost $36 million to protect homes from that summer’s runaway blazes, with the state covering $13.9 million of the total.

The same study predicted defending homes from fires in Montana could run up to $79 million in state and federal expenses by 2025.

Some of those costs could be snuffed out by requiring insurers to educate their customers in outlying areas about fire-safety, said Sen. Ken Hansen, D-Harlem, sponsor of two of the bills.

But mandatory education – or inspections – would place an unfair burden on their industry, insurers said.

“It seems to me that there are already entities and organizations well-versed and able to educate individual homeowners about the potential dangers in the wildland-urban interface,” said Greg VanHorssen, a State Farm spokesman.

Even if the insurers were ready to offer carrots for good fire habits, environmentalists said the laws heard Wednesday do not go far enough to make a real dent in costs.

“They’re all these little baby steps when what we really need to do is tackle this issue head on,” said Anne Hedges, program director for the Montana Environmental Information Center. “They’re not tackling the real fundamental issue, which is telling people that ‘if you build there, you’re on your own.’ ”

The bills are Senate Bills 75, 137, 138 and 145.

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