Got marshmallows?

mklotz · Sep 3, 2009

Most of you are probably aware that we've been having some wildfire problems here in California.

This afternoon I heard fire sirens and walked out on our patio to see this:

about a mile away. It wasn't very long before a pair of super-scoopers...

showed up and proceeded to do their thing...

Even the little precision interdiction helos got into the act.

Fortunately, we live only a few miles from the ocean. I timed the scoopers and they were back with a new load only three minutes after making their drop. After a few water drops it appears that everything is under control.

More excitement than this old man needs.

vlmarshall · Sep 3, 2009

Ugh. Glad you're ok.
Sure makes ya glad for that bunch of guys doing a tough job.

steamer · Sep 3, 2009

Be Safe Marv......

Dave

Foozer · Sep 3, 2009

Good to know those fancy toys do work when called upon. With the stones those pilots have to do an ocean water pick up, its a wonder the plane gets back in the air.

Salutes to those that risk their own for others.

Robert

rake60 · Sep 3, 2009

Stay safe Marv!

Buildings and contents can be replaced.
Cranky old retired retired engineers can't be. stickpoke

I hope it comes no closer than it already has!

Stay safe and don't be afraid to be scared . Get to hell out of
there if the situation requires.

Rick

shred · Sep 3, 2009

Stay away from the drops too. My little brother lives on the hill between Simi and LA and the end of his yard got singed a few years back. A Japanese camera crew and reporter were up there reporting on the fire from about the same spot when a helo dropped a load of about 50-50% mud and water all over them and his yard. The helos were collecting from a nearby reservoir that wasn't all that deep...

:

Stan · Sep 4, 2009

Marv: Very clever photography to make it appear that all that smoke was emanating from your chimney. Smart pilots not to do a water drop on your roof ;D

PhiberOptix · Sep 4, 2009

Marv,

I would be stopping making engines and making a sprinkler system LOL
joking aside its good to see how efficient the firemen are there, 3 Min's between drops, that's good going
and job done before the fire could get out of hand, we see some fires you have had on the TV over here
where its not just a house on fire its whole towns that are in danger, or was that in Australia...

either way keep SAFE (and dry)

regards
Andy

mklotz · Sep 4, 2009

I have a whole lot of admiration for the pilots who fly those super-scoopers. [And for the other firefighters as well, of course.]

Those planes are really flying slow(ly) and low. The elevation of our house is 1000 feet ASL and, in some of the pictures I took, I'm looking down on the planes. That means that pilot is flying a heavily loaded A/C at low speed at an altitude of about 800 feet above local terrain rife with transmission lines. One engine glitch and he's toast.

I zoomed in on one of the pictures I took and cropped out just the plane. [Damn, a ten megapixel sensor is a wonderful thing.]

News reports indicate that the fire was the result of an auto accident which caused a car to go off the road and into the roadside brush.

cobra428 · Sep 4, 2009

Hey Marv, Stay safe!

The report, I heard on the news this morning in NY. The fire is arson, they found some accelerant someplace and they are treating it as a homicide because of the 2 fireman deaths.
Tony

tmuir · Sep 4, 2009

I live in a wood house in a forest in the hills on the outskirts of Perth, Western Australia.
I've had fires within a mile of my house and its a scary thing.
Before I bought my house there was a big fire that almost licked my house.
The trees still have the burn marks on them 3 stories high in my back yard.

I've cut down / had cut down over a dozen trees over the last 8 years to get them a bit further back from my house but if a crown fire comes it won't be enough.

Bush fire season always makes me feel uneasy, stay safe.

mklotz · Sep 4, 2009

cobra428 said:
The report, I heard on the news this morning in NY. The fire is arson, they found some accelerant someplace and they are treating it as a homicide because of the 2 fireman deaths.

That's the so-called Station Fire, one of the largest California has ever experienced. It's many miles from where I live. According to the satellite photos, the smoke from it has drifted as far east as Colorado.

The area where I live is heavily populated so the risk to life and property associated with any fire is much greater than is the case with the brush fires in the foothill areas. That explains the immediate and overwhelming response (e.g., air tankers) before it could get out of hand.

For the last week or so the relative humidity has been in the single digits. A glass of ice water on my desk hardly shows any condensation. That, combined with triple digit temperatures, means that everything is a tinderbox.

CrewCab · Sep 4, 2009

Take care Marv, we need you back here tomorrow

...... impressive response by your air tankers ...... :bow: .... and good pictures, but above all, stay safe, all of you.

CC

tel · Sep 4, 2009

Pretty scary stuff. Stay safe Marv. There's nothing quite so frightening as fire

Maryak · Sep 4, 2009

tel said:
Pretty scary stuff. Stay safe Marv. There's nothing quite so frightening as fire

What tel said.

Best Regards
Bob

sparky961 · Sep 5, 2009

It's a bit hard to read, but does that say "Quebec" on the side of the plane? Is there a Canadian connection here?

-Sparky

mklotz · Sep 5, 2009

GIYF...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Scooper

sparky961 · Sep 8, 2009

"Yes" would have sufficed.

dsquire · Sep 9, 2009

mklotz said:
GIYF...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Scooper

Marv

Thanks for the link. If you would have just said "yes" I would have had a couple of hours that would have been boring.

I spent a couple of hours on there reading and looking at the photo's. I have a great love for flying boats and one of these days I may start building one from scratch.

Thanks again and stay safe out there. It seems if they aren't trying to shake you into the ocean then they try to make you jump in to keep cool.

Cheers

Don

Krown Kustoms · Sep 9, 2009

I thought all Bombardier made were ATV's, I guess they are another company like Daewoo (tv-car-stereo)
All of my respect goes out to the ones who stay and fight. Not the ones who say -it wasnt my fault see ya later-
-B-

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