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Wildfire Today

Tag: France

Five Corsica firefighters entrapped and injured

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , ,

Above: Two of the fire engines that were entrapped on Corsica. The engine on the left appears to have small water nozzles on the bar that encircles the top of the cab.

During night firefighting operations on the island of Corsica overnight on March 24 and 25 three fire vehicles were entrapped by the fire resulting in five firefighters suffering first and second-degree burns. Some of the firefighters, it is not clear how many, took refuge in one or more of the fire engines that had vehicle protection systems consisting of water nozzles positioned around the truck that could be activated as needed.

Engine protection system

The fire occurred in the French commune of Bastelica in southern Corsica (map). Matthias Fekl, the Minister of the Interior, said Saturday morning:

In the early evening, a group of firefighters found themselves trapped in flames as a result of a change in wind direction. They then took refuge in their vehicles equipped with a self-protection device.

One person is in police custody, suspected of starting the fire.

Three firefighter vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the incident.

damaged fire engines

The fire engine in the above photo appears to be the same one in the photo (on the left) at the top of this article.

Wildland firefighters in Australia have also been using similar engine protection systems for years.

Tracked vehicles for fire suppression

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags 3 Comments on Tracked vehicles for fire suppression

Yesterday we wrote about a suggestion at Fire Chief magazine that surplus military tanks should be converted to be able to suppress wildland fires. We pointed out that an M1A1 tank weighs 135,200 pounds and that even if the weapons and some of the depleted uranium armor was removed, transporting it on highways limited to 80,000 pounds and using it in an urban-wildland interface would not be easy. However there are other tracked military vehicles that are much lighter, some of which have been converted and used successfully to manage wildland fires.

Converted personnel carrier, North Carolina
Converted personnel carrier on a fire in Wilkes County, North Carolina, Spring, 2006. Photo by Michael Crouse.

For example, Michael sent us the photo above, and said:

We have a few of these around here in NC. Converted personel carriers. We call them fire tracks and the have a 500 gallon tank in the back with an electric ultra striker pump with honda motors. They are very handy to have in the more remote areas.

And there is the vehicle below that was used on the Lateral West Fire in the Great Dismal Swamp in 2011. It appears to be a Bombardier all-terrain vehicle. HERE is a link to examples of similar tracked commercially available non-military vehicles.

Fire hose "spaghetti" at Lateral West Fire, 2011
Fire hose “spaghetti” at the Lateral West Fire, 2011. USFWS photo by Brad Lidell

Frerson commented on yesterday’s article, saying that in France they are using a converted M113 armored tracked vehicle on wildland fires. They have a module with two of them which they use for suppressing fires in the southern part of the country. Atris Corporate appears to be involved in marketing the vehicle which is shown in the video below.

S2-T air tankers in France prepare for fire season

Author BillPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,
An S2-T practicing an air drop in France. Photo: france3.fr

S2-T Tracker air tankers are being used by the French Securite Civile in much the same way CalFire uses them in California. Their piston engines have also been replaced with turbine engines.  A French site has an article about local air tanker pilots training for the upcoming fire season with ground-based firefighters.  Here is how Google Translate translated the article that was, obviously, in French. It’s a little rough, but you’ll get the idea:

Air fight against the fire in Haute-Vienne

A year well watered!
A tracker was available to men of fire Hte-Vienne for a full scale exercise

The choice of location for the exercise of air fight against the fires had not been chosen at random: the airport of Limoges is a basic pélicandrom ”

This means that the aircraft water bombers are likely to land on the tarmac to take full of water before they speak sometimes even in the south of France. Men fire must therefore know the manipulations necessary for this operation. Moreover, they are also obliged to intervene on the ground, with the support of the Tracker. They therefore scale maneuvers in a forest near Nedde. The water bomber aircraft was refueled in Lake Vassivière and dropped its cargo under the guidance of men on the ground.

HERE is a link to a video associated with the article. I speak about three words in French, but the pictures tell the story.