I Have a Long Time Interest in Both Forestry,and in Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention.With All of the Many Major,-Even Mega,-Fires that we've been Having in the Last Number of Years!,-Quite a Good Few Now!,-I am Particularly Concerned.In Normal Times,-The Matter is Concernable Enuf,-Let Alone in these Inordinately Abnormal Times and Fire Seasons as we've been Having! This is One of the Things I Want to Address,-and Discuss,-if Anyone Cares to Join In,-Here Around the Campfire.

Another,-is that I am also Intersted in Obtaining,-or at Least Getting a Better Idea of Where and How I Can Obtain,-a Generally Comprehensive and Complete List of Such Fires here in the U.S.,-Year by Year,Fire Season by Fire Season,-that Sort of Thing. Which would Go Back over at Least the Last One or Two Decades. Two Decades will of course include the Yellowstone Fires of 1988,-which is The First,-or One of the First,-of these Major New Types of Fires,and Fire Seasons,-as we've Been Having. Wheras Info going Back one Decade,-would Not. I'm also Interested in Getting a Handle On,-the Major,Adjacent,-Canadian and Mexican Forest Fires Going On,-During this same,General Period. -As Well as,-Perhaps in an even More General Sense,-Major Fires Elsewhere Thruout the World,-of Recent Times.The Great SE Asian and Indonesian Fires of Only a Few Years Ago,-Come Immeadiately to Mind.

I've Tried to Follow These over the Years,-as They Happen,-but Have been Only Partially Successful. I've Caught Many,-but also I've Missed Many! With the American Media and Society as They Often and Generally Are!,-A Given Major Fire Gets All the News Coverage Rave & Rage!,-For the Several Weeks or so that that Fire Goes On!,- Then,-When It Gets to and a Little Past it's Newsworthy Prime,-(At Least as the Media and Journalists Generally Define It!,-Which I Think Often Equates to "Shortshrift"!),-Then,-It's All Too Often Just Dropped!,-Like a Rock One Holds in Their Hand! But Then You so Often Hear Not Another Word About It,-As If It Mayswell Not Have Ever Occurred in the First Place! I Understand that News Runs it's Cycles,-Before then Becoming Old News. But I Think that They Often Rush Too Inordinately Fast to that Point!,-Faster than a Hog to Slop!,-sometimes! A Given Major Fire and It's Aftereffects,-Have Relevance a Good Ways Afterward,-But They just Draw the Curtain on It! It's somewhat Hard to Keep Total Track and Tabs on Them!,-When They just Pull the "Coverage Curtain"!,-Like That! I of course Want to Keep All Round Tabs,-on Not Only the When and Where of such Given,Major Fires,-but Also the All Round "What",-of Them. -The Basic "What and Why",and All,-of Them.When the Coverage Starts Getting "Boreing"or"Unpopular",andor is Otherwise Supplanted by Other News Items,-The Plug is so Pulled, and you Run into a Real Desert or Dearth! If you Don't Catch It When It is Around!,-Often All Too Briefly!,-You've Missed It! -Our Serious, Concernable, and Inordinately Large Forest Fires of Late,-Certainly Come Under that Media Umbrella. You so Don't Hear of This Year's Fires!,-Let Alone Anything of Last Year's Ones! -Or the Last Several or More Year's Worth. -Oh!,-an Occassional, Minimal, Grudging Comment when They Absolutely Have To!, is Sometimes Made,-If Even That! But That Comes In and Out,-Across One's Radar Screen in a Flash!,-and Again,-If you've Missed It!,-You've Missed It! And It's Far Short of Anything that even Approaches a Reasonably Comprehensive,General Review. Even in a Given Year's Fire Season,-The Top Several Fires for a Wowl may be Well Reported,-Yet At One and the Same Time!,-OTHER Major Fires are Also Well Underway!,-and Little to None Reported On! I Try to Keep Up with Any Given Year's Fire News / General Picture,-but Between What I Miss that's in One Way or Another my Own Fault or Doing,-and What is Either Not Covered,-or Inadequately Covered by the Media,-I've Missed Out on Quite a Many Events in This Area,-as Well! I'd Like to Consolidate and Get Caught Up somehow! I'd Appreciate It if Any of You,Could Be of Informational or Other Help to me,-in This Regard! I'd Really Like to Come Across such a Listing,-as well as Other Information concerning These Major,-and Inordinately "Mega",-Fires of Our Times. (I Recently Came Across a sort of Annual Federal Fire Information Compilation,-For a Few Seconds or so!,-I Had that Warm, Wonderful,-"At Last!",Feeling! -Until I Soon Found,-that It Apparently Concerns Itself with "Only" House and Other Urban Fires! I Didn't Have Too Many Moments to be Looking It Over,-that Day in the Used Bookstore or Whatever,-and Having to Get On with Something Else.But It was Enuff to Pretty Well Let me Know,-that the Book Probably Had Nothing in it,-About Forest Fires, or Their Fighting and Prevention!) (So It's Back to Square One,-There! Perhaps Some One or Ones of You,-Know Something that Could Help me to Get Beyond that Square!)

I also Think we've Got to Quit Shortshrifting and Shoestringing Our Fine and Dedicated Forest Fire Fighting Forces Along. We Need More Personnel, More and Better Aircraft, More and Better Communication,Organization,and "Pre-Monitoring of the Forest. A Sort of Formal,Organized,-National Firefighting Force,-In Addition to,-and Working in Concert with the Fine Ones we Already Have,-is What I Think is Needed. I Hasten to Add,-That even This,-Shud Remain "Informal Enuf",-at Least in the All Round Grand Scale of Things,-So as we Don't Have our Topnotch Firefighters Alreddy There,-Getting to Feel that They've been Sucked or Subsumed Into some Stifling Federal Bureaucracy!,-Run from Distant Washington,-to Boot.Let's Not Stifle any "Golden Geese"!,-Who Perhaps Often Shorthanded at Times,-Still Manages on Their Own Untied Up Freedom,Knowledge,and Experience,-To Put Many a Fire Out!,-and Save Many a Home and Life!,-in Their Such "Golden" a Manner! But Even in More Normal Times!,-Let Alone with the Sort of Fire Seasons we've Been Having!,-(Which are Now,-and For Awhile Yet,-Unfortunately Becoming the "Standard Fare"),-These Guys Need some Backup! They Need,-and Can Really Use!,-Something of a Real Helping Hand! (A Helping Hand that again Doesn't Get in the Way!,-Too Much!) We've Got to Quit Operating Them Shorthanded!,-Hoping to Count On Them to Hold the Line on Today's Forest Fires! So Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention Shouldn't Be some Sort of a Low Priority,-National Afterthought! Fires were Threatening San Diego!,-just This Past Summer,-and Sydney,Australia,-Not All that Long Ago! Neither is Exactly "John's Corner",-Population 12!,-Hello?! What if our somewhat Shorthanded and Stretched Forces WEREN'T!,-Able to Hold the Line at San Diego Last Year!? -One of These Coming Years,-We Might Well NOT Be so Lucky! We Need Something "No Bones" Better!,-To Back Them Up! We've Got to Show the World,-as Well as Ourselves,-That we are Really Serious!,-About Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention! I Understand!,-That some Fires,-Under the Proper Circumstances and Conditions,-Shud Be Intelligently, Carefully, and "Mindfully" Let to Burn Themselves so Out. Trying to Stamp Out Every Last Forest Fire 100% of the Time, is of course What Got us into the Yellowstone Mess!-Which in Turn!,-Has Contributed Much to Today's Mega Fires! These Fires Shud Be Self Evidently "Too Much"! We Can't just Allow Everything to Burn Itself Out,-Either! More American Cities than just San Diego,-are Rideing On the Line! Our Dedicated Firefighting Personnel Out There!,-Need a Good Backup and Boost!,-Nowadays! -Both Materially and In Spirit and Morale! They've Got to Know that Their Nation is Really Behind Them!,-Not Preoccupied with Mike Jackson or Something!,-as They Man the Fire Lines So Well!,-and Against Such Odds! From the Girl Back in the Town Assembling Sandwiches for the Firefighters,-To the Average American Taking the Time and Care to Watch the Coverage on the Evening News,-To the Guy or Gal who Drives Those Sandwiches on Out to the Lines,-To the Real Resources and Resolve of Our Nation,-Backing Them Up on Their Lines So!,-We,-as Frank said,-Should Do This "Not in a Shy Way"! We've Gone to the Moon, and Have Done Many Other Great and Spando Things!,-Let's Apply the Same!,-Inspiration, Determination, and Resolve!,-to Preventing and Fighting our Own Forest Fires,-Right Here at Home! This is No Minor Little,-"Nice to Do",-of a Matter!,-In Case Anyone Hasn't Noticed Lately!,-Our Forest Fires Anymore Often are Quite Major and Mega! A Shortshrifting, Ad Hoc, "Bandaid" Approach!,-Isn't Appropriate even in More Normal Times!,-Let Alone These Ones! -So Let's Quit Piddle-Paddling Around as a Nation on This!,-and Really Catch the Spirit!,-and Get Down to Business!,-on This Matter! We're Dealing with Much Drier,Hotter, and Fuel Laden of Times!,-and It Looks Like we're Only Gonna Continueing to Face such Times,-for a Good Woul Yet! -So Let's Be About It!,-and Onto It! We Particularly Need More and Better Firefighting Aircraft!,-(No Lessening or Diminishment Concerning any Other Firefighting and Prevention Needs!,- Intended by me Here) Now With Things like our Recent "Arizona 50 Mile Long Wall of Flame!",-Rather Regularly Occurring Anymore!,-We're Under a Real Task and Threat! As a Nation,-Let's Quit Blindly and Blithely Fooling Ourselves! Each Summer's Fires Cannot Become "So Last Year!"!,-in Our Recollection, Hearts, and Minds! I'm Concerned,-Because This Really Is!,-a Quite Concernable! Matter! I Think it's Clear,-That a Seriously Expanded Fire Fighting and Prevention Effort,-is Well Warranted!

As Part of this Forest Fire Prevention / Fighting Interest and Concern of Mine,-I'd Like to Know if any of you, Could Possibly Be of any Help,-Toward my Obtaining such Generally Comprehensive Lists,-on Recent Forest Fires and Fire Seasons,-as I've Spoken Of.

I also Know of a Number of Good Books on Forest Fires and Their Fighting and Prevention,-that are Out Now,-or Have Been Around a While. -Such as MacLean's Current "Fire and Ashes". -Of Which I'll Be Glad over Time,-To Bring to our Group's Attention.

I Urge us All to Be More Cognizant, Concerned, and Aware!,-of Today's Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention, Import and Scene! -Don't just Totally "Minor It Off"!,- We as a Nation Can No Longer Afford to Swosh It Off So! [color:"black"] [/color] [email]ScottRezaLogan[/email]

I am not sure exactly what you are after because I have great difficulty reading your post. Something about the format. Just seems to blend together. Some paragraphs might help.

I think this might be a resource for you. I use it to keep track of fires when planning /traveling. I have not checked their web beyond my needs, but it may be worth a look.

http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/

Hello, Nomad, -Thanks for the Links and for Chiming In. -Also for your Constructive Criticism. -As to that, -I Take It that you Have Something there. I'll See about Improving such Things in Future Posts. I'll Click on your Links Soon Enuf, -Right After This. -Continued Good Luck on All your "Nomading Around"! -FRIENDS IN SURVIVAL,- "Scott" [color:"black"] [/color] [email]Nomad[/email]