Boxes of water dropped on a fire in Israel

2 p.m. EDT August 18, 2021

C-130 drops boxes of water on a wildfire
A C-130 drops boxes of water on a wildfire in Jerusalem, Israel Aug. 17, 2021. Photo by Kobi Richter, Israel Fire & Rescue Authority.

Firefighters in Israel used a C-130 to drop boxes of water on a large fire Jerusalem this week.

The fire was very large, compared to other fires in the country, and burned 6,000 acres. More than 1,500 firefighters assisted for three days before they stopped the spread.

We are working on getting confirmation, but the photo at the top of this article shows what appears to be either PCADS or Caylym/Guardian water boxes being dropped on the fire by a C-130.

UPDATE at 7:52 p.m. EDT August 18, 2021. We heard from Rick Goddard of Caylym who told us the boxes were their products. He said 16 of the Guardians holding a total of about 4,200 gallons were loaded into the C-130, but the crew of the aircraft decided to drop them in two passes of 8 boxes each. The containers all had a "foam additive" and some had blue dye.

Mr Goddard said, "The Guardian has been employed over wildfires every year starting in 2017 in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, then Attica fire in Greece, and last year in the Peruvian Andes and Amazon basin. This year so far on fires in Macedonia, Peru and Israel."
PCADS
PCADS. Walt Dorn, Flex Attack. Sacramento, March 22, 2016.

 

Caylym/Guardian
Caylym/Guardian. Michael Seaward & Rick Goddard, L to R. Sacramento. March 22, 2016.

We wrote about the Caylym/Guardian boxes in 2013 on Wildfire Today.

The system consists of containers constructed of cardboard, plywood, a plastic bladder, and dozens of yards of straps. They hold 264 gallons each and are designed to be carried in military aircraft such as the C-130 or C-27 using the standard cargo system. The containers when empty weigh 100 pounds. After they leave the aircraft the container lids, attached by four straps, separate, and act like a parachute. The straps then put pressure on the plastic bladders, ripping them open, allowing the liquid to be dispersed. The 100 pounds of the other components, the plywood, and cardboard, fall to the ground tethered by the nylon straps. The plastic bladder, hopefully empty, falls separately.

If these were ever actually used on a wildfire, there would have to be an even greater emphasis than usual on removing firefighters and other personnel from the target area than there is now when only liquids fall from the sky. If a box failed to disperse the liquid, it would be deadly, as could be the plywood if the box was empty. In addition, the owner of the land would either have to be OK with leaving the debris from the containers in place after the drop in perpetuity, or crews would have to search the area and carry it out for disposal in a landfill. Debris removal would need to be included in the estimated costs of using a system like this, which could be difficult or even impossible in some areas, complicated by topography and vegetation. Depending on the climate, it could take many years or decades for the plastic bladder, plywood, cardboard, and straps to decompose if it were not removed.

Caylym boxes fire
Caylym system containers exiting an aircraft. Screen grab from Caylym video.

Here is an eight-second video showing a box drop in Israel. It was uploaded to YouTube August 17, 2021.

In addition to dropping water, the Caylym system delivers the plastic bladder, plywood, cardboard, and straps.

In addition to the boxes, Israel has a fleet of 14 AT-802Fs managed by the Israeli National Police. We have a report that after the fire broke out the fire fighting agency contracted for six additional aircraft from Chim Nir to work with the Air Tractors. They were PT6-powered Turbo Thrush aircraft that are normally used for aerial spraying but had a fire fighting role before they were replaced by the Air Tractors.

How the 747 Supertanker was used in Israel

Tanker 944's flight

Above: Tanker 944’s flight over Israel November 27, 2016. 

After being deployed November 24 to assist firefighters in Israel, the 747 Supertanker returned to Colorado Springs November 30. While overseas it dropped on two fires during two sorties, discharging the full 19,200-gallon load each time.

The Israelis were extremely aggressive in attacking emerging fires, according to Chief Pilot Cliff Hale and Sr. VP Program Manager Bob Soelberg of Global Supertanker Services. Talking with them on a speakerphone Friday they said there were more than 40 air tankers in the country while they were there, including the 14 privately owned Single Engine Air Tankers the country has under contract.

At all times surveillance aircraft were airborne, able to quickly detect new fires and track any vehicles leaving the scene. About 39 people were arrested for arson during the recent fire bust.

At times the crew was on hot standby, with orders to be wheels-up within 15 minutes if necessary.

Frequently there were multiple air tankers loitering off the coast out over the Mediterranean ready to drop within minutes on new fires. In flight planning the Supertanker crew was told to take off with enough fuel for three hours of loitering. They also carried another three hours of fuel for working over a fire.

As you can see in the screengrab from FightRadar24, they were flying a racetrack pattern as they waited for an assignment. Other air tankers loitering at the same time were, of course, flying at a different altitude.

Tanker 944, a 747-400
Tanker 944, a 747-400, at Colorado Springs, May 4, 2016. Photo by Bill Gabbert.
Supertanker Watch Party
Found on Instagram: “Supertanker Watch Party”.

747 Supertanker drops on a fire in Israel

747 Supertanker
The 747 Supertanker, T-944, drops on a fire in Israel northwest of Jerusalem on November 26, 2016. Screen grab from video by @ShaiBenari

The 747 Supertanker, Tanker 944, dropped on a wildfire in Israel today northwest of Jerusalem. This was the first drop on a fire this version of the Supertanker has made.

After a 12.5-hour non-stop flight from Colorado Springs the aircraft arrived in Tel Aviv at about 10:25 a.m. MST time on November 26, which was after dark at the Ben Gurion International Airport.

The drop made today occurred at around sunset.

Jim Wheeler, President and CEO of Global SuperTanker Services, said it dropped the entire 19,200-gallon load of water. While sometimes air tankers in Israel drop fire retardant, he explained that the authorities often prefer water when the aircraft is working over populated areas.

Shai Ben-ari (@ShaiBenari) recorded a video of the drop. The image above is a screen grab from the video. And, here is another video, by @Israel, which shows the entire drop. Below is a screen grab from that second video.

Supertanker dropping
Screen grab from a video by @Israel of the Supertanker dropping northwest of Jerusalem, November 26, 2016.

This is not the first time a Supertanker has been mobilized to Israel. In December 2010 the first generation of the aircraft dropped on the Mt. Carmel Fire.

Before the drop the 747 took off from Tel Aviv and loitered over the Mediterranean for a while before it apparently made a dry run over the fire and then dropped on the next pass. The entire flight lasted about two hours.

supertanker 747 Israel
The flight of T-944 as recorded by FlightRadar24.

Israel sends air tankers to Cyprus to assist with outbreak of wildfires

Israeli air tankers Cyprus

Above: three Israeli single engine air tankers have arrived in Cyprus to assist firefighters. Photo by Israel Foreign Ministry.

The government of Israel sent three single engine air tankers (SEATs) and a support aircraft to assist Cyprus in suppressing large fires near Paphos and Evrychou. Cyprus has also asked Greece for assistance.

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said at his Sunday Cabinet meeting:

Several years ago, during the massive [2010] Carmel fire, I contacted the President of Cyprus, he was the first I turned to, and the Prime Minister of Greece, that they should send firefighting aircraft. They had one such aircraft. They took it out of its hangar and sent it here. Last night I ordered that three of our firefighting aircraft, out of our fleet of 13 or 14, be sent to help them, and the planes are now in Cyprus. This is part of the regional arrangement we have made with Cyprus and Greece about emergency assistance. I am pleased that we are able to extend this assistance.

Related articles:

Wildfire burns fields in Israel

Israel wildfire

The Twitter account of Yiddish News (@YiddishNews) distributed the above photo (click on it to see a much larger version), describing it as “…many fields destroyed by last week’s wildfire but Shmita field remained untouched by flames.”

Israel adds to their air tanker fleet

Air Tractor AT 802 air tanker in Israel
Air Tractor AT 802 air tanker in Israel in 2011.

In 2011 Israel first contracted for seven single engine air tankers, Air Tractor AT 802s, supplied by Elbit Systems and Chim Nir Flight Services. Now they are adding to the fleet and will have a total of 14.

Elbit Systems announced on January 5, 2015, that it was awarded an approximately $100 million contract from the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD) to procure six new firefighting aircraft and operate the firefighting squadron, which will consist of a total of fourteen aircraft, including eight aircraft previously procured by Elbit Systems. The contract, to be performed over an eight-year period, also covers flight hours, infrastructure upgrade, maintenance, airstrip operation, handling of fire retardants and other aspects of operating the squadron.

The firefighting aircraft, manufactured by Air Tractor, are single-engine aircraft, capable of carrying approximately 3,000 liters (792 US gallons) of water and flying three hours without refueling.

Bezhalel (Butzi) Machlis, President and CEO of Elbit Systems commented: “We are very proud to be selected for this opportunity to harness our professional capabilities and vast experience to the collective efforts of protecting Israel’sresidents and natural landscape”.

The Elad firefighting squadron was founded four years ago following the Mount Carmel forest fire and is named after Elad Riben, the fire scout that was killed in this fire. Since then, Elbit Systems has been cooperating with the IAF, firefighting units, the Jewish National Fund and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority in developing the squadron’s operational procedures and qualifying designated airstrips. The aircraft will be flown by CHIM-NIR’s pilots, the project’s subcontractor.

Since its inauguration in 2011, the firefighting squadron has performed over 4,600 missions, accumulated over 2,500 flight hours and has helped extinguish over 500 potentially destructive fires across the country, providing a prompt and professional solution.

Elbit Systems is developing a system for fighting wildfires by dropping small bags of liquid from a helicopter or cargo plane. The idea is that the bags would break upon impact and slow the spread of the fire.

water bag
One of the water bags. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

Wildland firefighter LODDs, 2010

At Wildfire Today we try to keep track of the line of duty deaths (LODD) of firefighters working on wildland fires. The past year, 2010, again produced a lengthy list of firefighters who passed away while doing their job. We make no claim that it is a complete or official tally. If you are aware of any that we missed, let us know. Some of the dates are approximate and may be the date of the report of the fatality. The last three incidents are gray areas, in that the victims were not all firefighters, or were not necessarily actively involved in fire suppression at the time of the incident. They were included because they were very significant incidents.

At the end of the list is a report from the U.S. Fire Administration providing their statistics on the number of LODDs for 2010.

January 11. Australia. A firefighter was killed and four others were injured when their fire truck rolled over while they were responding to a grass fire at Lake Mokoan near Benalla in northeast Victoria, Australia. (map)

April 11. Kansas.  A firefighter was overcome by smoke and died while working on a fire west of Peru.

April 24. New Brunswick, Canada. A pilot from Grand Falls, with Forest Protection Ltd., was conducting a practice flight in a water bomber when the plane crashed shortly after taking off from the airport.

June 23. Washington. The chief of the Franklin Fire District 4 in Basin City, Washington, was killed when a snow cat that had been converted to a fire apparatus rolled about 100 feet down a hill while he was working on a vegetation fire.

July 30. Russia. Wildfires in Russia killed at least 25 people including 2 firefighters, and destroyed over 1,000 homes. Some reports say three firefighters died in the fires.

July 31. Canada. An air tanker crashed while working on a fire in British Columbia. The Convair 580, operated by Conair, went down in central B.C. The two pilots were killed.

August 2. Arkansas. A firefighter was operating an Arkansas Forestry Commission 2002 International tractor trailer, and was en route to check on the status of an earlier fire. The tractor trailer load reportedly shifted causing the vehicle to cross the roadway center line, go into a ditch and then overturn.

August 11. Portugal. Civil protection officials said a female firefighter died, one fireman was badly burned and their team had to be evacuated when they found themselves surrounded by flames after a sudden change in the direction of the wind in Gondomar region. On Monday, a fireman was killed and another seriously injured when their truck fell into a burning ravine in the mountainous Sao Pedro do Sul area.

August 13. Spain. Two firefighters were been killed in wildfires. The blazes hit near the village of Fornelos de Montes in the country’s northwestern Galicia region, close to the border with Portugal, where several forest fires are still raging.

September 21. Spain. A 46-year old firefighter died while extinguishing a wildfire in Senes.

September 24. Ohio. A firefighter was killed when a pressurized tank failed and he was struck by debris.

September 24. Virginia. A firefighter collapsed and later died while working on a fire in New Church, Virginia off Route 13.

November 16. South Carolina. A firefighter was suppressing a grass fire in the median of Interstate 20 when a van rear-ended a sedan as they approached the fire scene. The sedan was pushed into two parked fire trucks causing them to crash into a firefighter, causing his death.

November 23. California. One inmate was killed and 12 were injured when their crew carrier vehicle was involved in a head-on accident. Three of the injured were in critical condition. The elderly driver of the other vehicle was also killed. As far as we know the inmate crew was not assigned to a fire at the time of the crash.

December 5. China. A massive wildfire in Tibet’s Sichuan province killed 22 people, including Chinese soldiers during a rescue operation. Of the 22 killed, 15 were soldiers, two were workers with the grassland administration, and five others were local civilians.

December 6. Israel. At least one of the 43 government employees that were killed in the Carmel Mountain fire in Israel was a police officer. The Police Chief in Haifa (Israel) died in the Line of Duty from her burn injuries after 4 days of hospitalization. She was the first ever woman police chief there, and was gravely injured in the Carmel forest fire, while driving along with the bus full of Prison Service cadets that burned and killed the cadets as well.

Below is the The U.S. Fire Administration’s report of the on-duty firefighter fatalities in 2010. Click on FullScreen to see a larger version.

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