Tim Walton sent us a link to a video that was shot on Sunday at the Scotts Fire east of Ukiah, California (map). The cast of the film includes:
- One or more S-2Ts (tanker 96 was one of them)
- Tanker 911, the Very Large Air Tanker, a DC-10
- Tanker 40, a BAe-146
- A MAFFS C-130, (possibly MAFFS #8)
Tim, who has been capturing images of fires for 30 years, shot the video. Thanks Tim!
CAL FIRE says the Scotts Fire has burned about 4,600 acres and is 15% contained. Approximately 300 homes are threatened. In Addition:
The fire continues to burn southeast towards Little Cow Mountain and east towards the Scotts Valley Road area in steep and rugged terrain. Fire crews and equipment have been successful in holding the fire south of Highway 20, west of Scotts Valley Road, and east of Cow Mountain Road. Today, a heavy commitment of aircraft, bulldozers, and fire crews will continue to build and strengthen containment lines. Efforts continue to protect BLM lands, as well as critical communications infrastructure in the Cow Mountain Road area.
p.s. here’s a T-96 shot from a few years ago …
http://wildfirenews.com/photos/t96sbd.jpg
Yes the retardant held!
I was flying T96 and made the first drop on this fire.
Everything was going for the fire; good wind, vegetation, terrain…
3 days to stop and contain it.
what you see on the video is the Tool Box concept at work. It works.
IA is the best tactic but you need line builders for EA.
HI JEROME!!
I’ll bet that was a fun fire to fly … everyone in on it.
The retardant line will hold for the next three fire seasons! This is heaven on Earth for a company officer arriving on scene of a fire that is still building energy. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case and the fire escaped. Maybe this fire couldn’t have been stopped even if all these aviation assests had arrived within the first hour. Another good example of why CWN doesn’t work. If you are serious about containment before the next (10 A.M.) burning period adequate aviation assests need to “beat the thing up” before the sun goes down! Just bought 100 more shares of LCL.
I would have to agree Johnny. Invest in the aerial assets via contracts and keep the fire small. In fact direct attack works when it is small. Even pouring coldwater on it would work!
Agree with JCW…
Saves money in the long run.
Great comparative video on drop types. I can’t help but think with so much retardant laid down in such a small area what the environmental impact would be. In just that small area there would have been over 50000 gallons of retardant dropped. ICL will be happy but I’m not so are about the taxpayers paying the bill!
So did the retardant lines hold?
This has to be the best comparative video ever produced. Thanks to Wildfire Today for posting. Is the video available for sale at the WildFire Today gift shop? I would like to send one to the aviation fire experts Down Under. Looks like Neptune is on the right track. Again great flying by the military, all they need is a better dispersal system. It is available today from TMR manufacturing in California. And the Forest Service was right again, the DC-10 can only be used in flat terrain or rolling hills. For those big borate bomber haters “if you can make a B-17 an air tanker you can make almost any airplane an effective air tanker. Congradulations again to 10 Air Carrier.
Great video – tankers working, the dozer and his line, the audio of wildland firefighters at work.
Well the 146 looks to be a good system. still a bit skeptical about a pressurized tank (see the MAFFS drop) but looks to have good coverage and distribution. The DC10 looks to be very effective and operates just fine in the hills.
Just my Opinion…
Yes, I do think MAFFS are useful…