Latest news with #wildfire
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Authorities seeking wildfire equipment stolen from New Mexico Forestry Division
Jun. 27—New Mexico State Police is asking for the public's help in recovering wildfire equipment worth $180,000 that was stolen earlier this month from the state Forestry Division. The thefts occurred as several wildfires burned thousands of acres in the southern part of the state. "The loss of this equipment absolutely made things worse for firefighters and responders on incidents this week and the week before," said George Ducker, spokesman for the division. "We spent a lot of time sourcing, purchasing and building the equipment ourselves." The stolen equipment includes two white utility box trailers, a red Kubota tractor, a black open utility trailer and a Camp-In-A-Box, which contains necessary equipment for setting up overnight camps during wildland fires, the department said. State Police said the thefts occurred on June 7 and 8, when security footage captured a Black Chevrolet Tahoe accessing the Forest Division depot on Richards Avenue in Santa Fe on three separate occasions. The facility's gates were locked and no personnel were on site at the time. The Forestry Division has been working with State Police to recover the equipment, but the division has no leads at this time. In the past month, New Mexico has experienced multiple wildfires, including two that torched over 100,000 acres in and around the Gila National Forest and the Desert Willow Complex Fire that burned 10 homes and injured several firefighters in Los Lunas. Of the items stolen, the Camp-In-A-Box, would have been the most helpful to have during the wildfires, Ducker said, and "certainly would have been used in the last week." "I don't know what goes through the minds of folks who want to steal this kind of equipment," Ducker said. "Whoever did this clearly doesn't care about who they impact, and they don't care about the downstream effects of something like this." State Police spokesperson Amanda Richards said that while the investigation is ongoing, authorities are asking the public to provide any information that could help. "Investigations are complex and they take time... but at this point it doesn't hurt to ask the public for their help," Richards said. Anyone with information regarding the theft is encouraged to contact State Police officer Edward Quintana at 505-425-6771.
RNZ News
11 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Third person sentenced in relation to Awarua fire
Photo: A third person has been sentenced in relation to a wildfire that burned through a peat wetland in Southland during a total fire ban. The person pleaded guilty to allowing a fire lit by another person to get out of control. She has been convicted and discharged in the Invercargill District Court. In January, one offender was sentenced to seven months' home detention, and to pay reparations of $10,000, and the other was sentenced to 200 hours' community work and 12 months' supervision, and reparations of $10,000. The fire was lit in the Awarua Wetlands in Southland on 2 April 2022 during a prohibited fire season which meant a total fire ban was in place. Fire and Emergency deputy national commander Steph Rotarangi said firefighters fought the fire for more than a week. It burnt through 1330 hectares and had environmental and financial consequences in an internationally recognised conservation area. "Given the significance of the impact of the Awarua Wetlands fire, and the fact the area was under a total fire ban, we considered it appropriate to prosecute three individuals for the fire," she said. This was the second prosecution under the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017 - the first resulted in an $18,000 fine for an unauthorised burn-off. The Department of Conservation's southern South Island operations director Aaron Fleming said the fire caused significant damage to the biodiversity and ecosystem of the wetlands, released vast carbon emissions, and seriously set back conservation work in the area. Photo: Supplied / Ngāi Tahu "Awarua Wetlands is one of the largest remaining wetland complexes in this country and was recognised as New Zealand's first Ramsar Convention on Wetlands site of international importance in 1976," he said. "The fire burned about 980ha of wetland plants, which is an important habitat for threatened species like matuku-hūrepo/Australasian bittern and other birds, plants, insects, lizards, and fish. It also injured or killed a high number of animals." Weeds like gorse and Spanish heath were already beginning to invade the burned areas, in some places outcompeting native plants. It was estimated about 104,000 tonnes of carbon emissions were released into the atmosphere from this fire - equivalent to driving about 409,829,000 kilometres in an average petrol car. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CBC
12 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Over 800 Deer Lake First Nation wildfire evacuees returning home after weeks in Toronto
Social Sharing A month after being displaced by the region's largest wildfire, hundreds of evacuees from Deer Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario are returning home. The first plane out of Toronto, where roughly 885 people have been staying for the past four weeks, left on Friday, Chief Leonard Mamakeesic told CBC News. The community is first bringing back its essential workers, who will then be able to prepare the First Nation for the large-scale repatriation of the rest of its members. "Everybody's happy, right? Everybody wants to go home. It's really exhausting here. They want to be able to sleep in their own home," said Deer Lake's head councillor, Jeremy Sawanis. "It's so noisy in Toronto, too." The remote Oji-Cree community, located in Treaty 5 territory, is about 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay. It's only accessible by air or winter road. Its evacuation was prompted by Red Lake 12, a wildfire that's now more than 194,000 hectares in size. However, the fire is moving away from the community, and crews are starting to take down the sprinkler systems that have been protecting the First Nation's homes and essential infrastructure. For Sawanis, being in Toronto has been a big culture shock. "I spend my whole time out in the bush, right? This just gets depressing after a while," he said. "I should be out fishing and hunting, [I] need to be on the land." Meanwhile, more than 2,000 evacuees from Sandy Lake First Nation remain in communities in southern Ontario, also because of Red Lake 12. Its evacuation was assisted by the Canadian Armed Forces earlier in June. Mamakeesic hopes all of his community members will be back in Deer Lake by Tuesday. There's been high demand for planes over the last few days, with members of Keewaywin First Nation also returning home, which pushed Deer Lake's repatriation back a day or two, he said. "Everybody is still with us. We have not lost anybody," Mamakeesic said. "That is my main goal — get everybody back home safe." 'People do care' Earlier this week, fire information officer Alison Bezubiak of Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services (AFFES) told CBC News that recent rainfall and cooler temperatures have offered reprieve to FireRangers on the front lines. However, as the weather has been warming up over the last couple days, the wildland fire hazard has worsened, and is considered primarily moderate across the southern half of the region and high across the Far North. "More rainfall is expected over the weekend into Tuesday," Ontario Forest Fires said in its latest update, on Thursday evening. Since the evacuation began, Mamakeesic said, he's learned three key lessons: patience, the importance of working together and the value of communication. He's been satisfied with the accommodations provided in Toronto and the security services offered by ISN Maskwa, an Indigenous emergency operations centre, which were supplemented by his own members, he said. "[I have] gratitude for all the patience and people that have reached out to help us. There are surrounding tribal councils that have reached out, the Lions Club as well, and there's people that have reached out [from] surrounding organizations as well — they're dropping off donations," Mamakeesic said. "People do care."
CTV News
12 hours ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Sask. province-wide wildfire state of emergency expires
A province-wide wildfire state of emergency in Saskatchewan has ended. The order was issued by Premier Scott Moe on May 27 when several out-of-control wildfires threatened numerous communities, which led to around 15,000 people being forced to evacuate at its peak. As of Friday, evacuations had ended for all but two communities. Recent rainfall and cooler temperatures allowed firefighters to more aggressively attack fires and reduce threats to the majority of communities close to wildfires in recent weeks. According to the Saskatchewan Public safety Agency (SPSA), daily wildfire updates will also end. Updates will be provided when necessary, moving forward. Officials say people can stay up to date by using the SPSA's online dashboards. On Friday afternoon, the SPSA's website said there are 26 active wildfires across the province with 10 that are not contained. To date, there have been 274 wildfires in Saskatchewan, well above the five year average of 171. As of last Friday (June 20) the province had confirmed that 1,931 values had been lost to the fires, including 299 houses and 60 cabins. The SPSA's last wildfire update came on June 23, when officials indicated loss totals had not risen since June 20. -With files from The Canadian Press and Caitlin Brezinski
CTV News
15 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
‘Too little, too late': Denare Beach residents frustrated with wildfire response
WATCH: Residents of Denare Beach are frustrated with the response leading up to and during the evacuation and wildfire that burned much of their community.
