“One must ask if the aerial firefighter’s toolbox is diverse enough to cover and support what is needed to make wildland firefighters successful. While the EU has little choice in this, after all, a company isn’t going to begin production of a new aircraft without significant firm orders, it will still result in less money for other firefighting resources. The large price tag of the aircraft will also leave less money for the EU Commission to fund other types of firefighting aircraft. When operating inland in hot summer months, finding these bodies may become harder, especially if droughts continue to shrink EU reservoir and lake water levels. The aircraft also needs water bodies in which to refill its tanks. ![]() And given that the aircraft is most useful when used in the initial attacking of a fire, having to wait eight hours for the sun is far from ideal. With Canadair planes, once the sun goes, so too does their usefulness. Once the water has evaporated it loses its usefulness, meaning continuous runs are needed to suppress a fire. The same cannot be said for firefighting planes which deploy water. However, while a plane which drops fire retardant cannot operate at night either, its previous payloads can continue to be effective throughout the dark, slowing and containing fires. Like most firefighting aircraft, the plane can’t operate during heavy smoke, strong winds, or nighttime. ![]() Instead, they are used to assist firefighters on the ground by suppressing and slowing fires, giving ground assets time to get ahead of blazes.Ī Canadair plane drops water to put out a fire in a hillside behind the town of Aquila Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo Canadair caveatsĭespite the Canadair’s impressive appearance, there are limitations to the aircraft. Water bombers are also rarely used or able to put out a wildfire by themselves. He added that the “more resources big fires suck up, the more depleted the resources become for viable successful initial attacks on new fires”. The bigger they get, the more resources they suck up,” he said. “If we don't attack smaller fires appropriately at the beginning when aviation is most effective, when those fires stand up because we didn't attack them properly then they get bigger. Reese, who now runs his own International Wildfire Consulting Group (IWCG), explained how not using aerial assets early on can lead to a vicious circle where firefighting planes become overstretched and increasingly ineffective. ![]() The key to bringing wildfires under control is by attacking them early, according to Dan Reese, the ex-deputy chief of tactical air operations at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. What lessons can Greece learn from this year's raging wildfires?.
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