Wildfire in Sweden

For the last couple of weeks I was busy working on a project that took up much of my available time. In spite of that, I did have an awareness of what was happening wildfire wise. I heard a couple of reports on National Public Radio about the then current significant wildfires burning out west. Thanks to Mike Archer's Wildfire News of the Day I was able to read the headlines about wildfire news. In addition, I am grateful for some friends who periodically send me updates of news about tankers and helicopters working fire in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and elsewhere.

One of the wildfires that I heard about last week was a wildfire in Sweden. I understand that this was the worst wildfire in Sweden in quite some time, and one person is reported to have died in the fire. By now this wildfire may be in the category of old news. For example here is an article on the Wall Street Journal Online dated August 5th (with video) that Bill Gabbert referenced in an article he posted on he first posted on August 5th with updates on the 6th and the 7th. Here is a link to a video (in Swedish)

Here is a satellite photo of the Swedish wildfire from earth observatory taken on or about August 4th.

As I was working on this article, an article in English with news of the wildfire in Sweden came across my desk: dated August 10th from The Local: Sweden's News in English. According to this article, there is concern that the wildfire may flare up again. Fixed-wing aircraft on loan to Sweden from Italy and France will be staying in Sweden through August 15th according to this report. Further while some evacuations were lifted over the weekend, there is concern that more evacuations could be put in place. Some twenty homes have been destroyed.

The wildfire in Sweden that I first read about last week, serves as a recurrent reminder to me that wildfires occur around the world, not just in the United States and Canada.

Revised on October 12, 2015 to removed a dead link. Also, the last edition of Mike Archers Wildfire News of the Day will be October 30, 2015.