Tuesday, September 01, 2009

On aerial firefighting strategy

Just before I originally wrote this article I was on the CBS2/KCAL9 website to get an update on what is happening on the wildfires burning in southern California. Always on the lookout for how aerial resources are being used, I watched an informative video (no longer available) where an LA County Fire Captain (Mark Wayland (sp?) is being interviewed. A portion of the interview, the first part, is focused on the use of aerial resources. In particular, the reporter asks why the two CL 415 super scoopers that arrived in southern California have not yet been used. As I understand it, the answer in brief, is that the super scoopers are more appropriate for initial attack (new fires) and are not appropriate for wildfires such as the station fire and other wildfires currently burning because the water they drop can conflict with the retardant lines. Listen to the video for the Fire Captain's responses.

Edited on September 8, 2014 to remove dead links/

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