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A company expects to make available soon in the United States a tracked wildland fire suppression vehicle featuring a turbine aided nozzle/mist blower and a 1,300-gallon water tank that can be refilled by helicopter.

“The first demonstrator chassis is ready in Reno, Nevada at Powerbully now and waiting for the turbine to be shipped from Italy by air freight,” Nicholas Davis, CEO of Arcus Fire said. “It will be doing a week-long demo program at Reno during late October. The second demonstrator is also ready for the turbine in Montreal at Prinoth. It will have an HKD Blue turbine on it and will be on display at the Ottawa conference in November and then doing a tour of the provinces.”

Mr. Davis said the price will run around $460,000 to $490,00 depending on options, such as infrared cameras, communications, external lockers, and drone integration. They are also looking at rental or lease options for approximately $7,000 per month.

Below is a press release from Arcus Fire, followed by a video with computer-generated imagery (CGI).

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LONDON — JULY 11, 2019

Arcus Fire unveiled an innovative wildland firefighting vehicle today. The Arcus Wildtrack will be able to take the fight to wildfires like no other vehicle currently on the market.

Using equipment provided by world-class manufacturers, a directional variable flow water turbine is combined with a fully-tracked body. The resulting vehicle can throw water, gel or retardant 75 meters at flow rates of 100 to 2,000 liters per minute.

Traveling at 10 kph on a variety of terrain types, the Wildtrack can suppress up to 24 acres per hour, depending on fuel and terrain. Capable of being reloaded by helicopter through its 5,000 liter (1,321 gallon) baffled hopper water tank, the Wildtrack is able to keep moving, continuously laying down suppressant and supporting firefighters with three external Camlock connections for standard fire hoses fed from the water tank.

“The Wildtrack is easy to deploy,” said Arcus Fire CEO Nick Davis. “Two vehicles can fit on a standard flatbed truck and be delivered to the fireline the same as a bulldozer. The Wildtrack also has hard points built into the chassis that allow it to be helicoptered to more remote locations. Using a helicopter which can carry water, such as an S-64 Aircrane or a CH-47 Chinook, the helicopter which delivers the vehicles can also resupply the vehicles from nearby water sources.”

Wildtrack drivers are able to use high-intensity strobes to provide visual cuing to helicopters supporting them, while the driver is provided with Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) vision for safety during night operations.

Real time satellite tracking of the Wildtrack is available, as is a link to a 90-minute endurance Arcus Drone with survey repeater beamed into the cab for a bird’s-eye view of the situation on the ground.

“We will offer different leasing programs to organizations and agencies which wish to contract the Wildtrack,” Davis added. “Following the 2018 fire season in the U.S., in which millions of acres burned, billions of dollars of real estate was destroyed, and over 100 lives were lost, my vision is that I would like to be able to reduce losses to less than $1 billion, with only a few structures lost and no loss of life within 5 years’ time.”

“The Arcus Wildtrack apparatus brings some new and old concept ability to assist wildland firefighters in suppressing wildfires. I look forward to seeing the Arcus Wildtrack go from concept to prototype and seeing it in action in 2020,” said Chief Kim Zagaris, Western Fire Chiefs Association Wildfire & Policy Advisor.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has released a new 17-minute film about the 2018 Camp Fire, the blaze that killed 85 people, blackened 153,336 acres, and destroyed 18,804 structures.

It is titled Into the Fire: The First Hours of the Camp Fire, and was uploaded to YouTube Wednesday.

Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to John. Typos or errors, report them HERE.

Today we are officially welcoming one of the most recent sponsors of Wildfire Today. The ColdTrailer can detect hot spots during mopup without a firefighter having to bend over or get on their hands and knees.

The story

In 1984 Jim Mundt, a McCall, Idaho based smokejumper, began thinking about a better way to find the last burning embers on a wildfire during mopup, the last task required before a fire could be declared out so the jumpers could abandon the fire, return to their base, and get back on the jump list. In 2000, working with his brother who was an electrical engineer, they developed the first prototype of a heat sensor mounted at the end of a pole. When the sensor detected heat, a speaker emitted a tone which changed as the temperature rose.

They worked on it for a couple of years, fine tuning the device and applying for a patent, but by then Jim was no longer a firefighter and the project languished.

Fast forward to 2017 when Patrick Wood, a crew member on the Los Padres Hotshots, came up with the same idea. When he researched the topic he found the Mundt brothers patent. The three of them began collaborating and are now making the ColdTrailer available to all wildland firefighters.

Field testing season

In 2018, 60 of the ColdTrailer MK 1’s were used by 20 crews, including 13 hotshot crews. The following are quotes from crewmembers on the Palomar Hotshots: “Saves our backs and hands from conventional cold trailing”,  “Very effective and easy to use cold trailing tool”, “Don’t have to bend over to hand feel the dirt” “The sensitivity was good and picked up even the smallest hotspots”, “Keeps you from potentially burning yourself”.

How it works

According to the company, the ColdTrailer functions very similarly to your hands and very differently from infrared technology. When barehanded cold trailing, any warmth detected is an indication of a possible hot spot so a firefighter must feel around to find the source of the heat.

With the ColdTrailer warmth is indicated by beeps. The faster the beeps the warmer it is getting. When the rate of beeps increases, the firefighter should spend a little more time checking that area for a real hot spot.

When the firefighter sweeps the probe through a hot spot the beeps get really fast, the LED flashes red, and a vibrating alarm pulses in the handle. The ColdTrailer can be used both to probe deep into root holes and also to sweep through the ash or duff right on the fire perimeter.

Why infrared is not a replacement for cold trailing

The company believes it is necessary to use a conduction-based heat sensor for cold trailing because infrared devices read surface temperatures, and ash is an insulator. Firefighters who use infrared as a replacement for cold trailing risk missing hot spots (unless in light fuels with a minimal ash layer).

Specs

The current version, the Coldtrailer MK. 2, is 4 feet 10 in. inches long when in use. Stored, the six sections fold like tent poles into a 12-inch package weighing less than a pound — 15 ounces. The six sections have a Kevlar cord strung through them keeping everything in the right order when it is folded. Inside the cord are two small electrical wires that run from the sensor to the control box. Assembling takes 15 to 20 seconds after you’ve done it once or twice.

Ergonomic design

The ColdTrailer has a strap that holds the six sections together when it’s folded. After the unit is assembled the strap is used to attach the upper end of the pole to the user’s arm while your hand grips it farther down on a foam pad. The two points of control provide leverage as the temperature-sensing end is dragged through ash on the ground.

Battery

One charge of the battery, which can be accomplished through a micro USB cable, lasts several months, according to the company. Lights indicate when the battery has 25% or 10% charge remaining. It shuts off after 10 minutes of not being used. There is a very, very small removable plastic plug which seals the charging port.

Price

The Coldtrailer MK. II sells for $450. [There is a 15% discount if you buy 4 or more and a 25% discount if you buy 10 or more. They are available from the Supply Cache, Forestry Suppliers, and at the company’s website. International buyers should order from Forestry Suppliers or the Supply Cache. A 90 day risk-free trial is available for those who purchase through the company’s website.

Final analysis

Without the opportunity to use it on a fire I can’t say for certain that the ColdTrailer is a good investment, but if it works as intended, firefighters could cover ground more quickly during mopup while reducing the stress on their backs and knees during the tedious search for hotspots.