The World's on Fire...

[TheGreenGoblin]

[PHXPhlyer]

I went by the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial last year.
I didn't plan out the visit beforehand and got to the parking area only to find out that the memorial was a 2+ hour hike up the hill.
Since I wasn't prepared to hike that far and didn't have that much time either, I had to take a pass and set it aside for a later time.

PP

[TheGreenGoblin]

I went by the Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial last year.
I didn't plan out the visit beforehand and got to the parking area only to find out that the memorial was a 2+ hour hike up the hill.
Since I wasn't prepared to hike that far and didn't have that much time either, I had to take a pass and set it aside for a later time.

PP

Prompted by the film "Only the Brave".

We get big forest fires back home and the people that fight them, are to a man, and a woman, brave people, like my old army friend Steve. Such people make me proud to be a human, in the way that lots of others don't!

The climate worldwide is changing. We all live on this fragile planet...

[G~Man]

Yarnell really sucked.....I remember that day well, I was with my fire crew in Idaho glued to the radio hoping for the best as it unfolded.

Here in California we are headed into another devastating fire season. his is the Carrr fire that hit Redding where I live a few years back, that is my girlfriends house burning at minute 2:59, and that is me flying across the screen at minute 3:57



We eventually burned out about 40,000 acres in order to stop this thing: This is the final line we put it---it was hand cut by two hotshot crew that we inserted in, then had tankers re-inforce it with retardant, then set the fire on the back side of it---you can see the Division chief flying the bottom of the line checking our work. On the other side you can see where we set fire to the ridges and are allowing it to slowly back down the hill preserving most of the trees. This burnout took us 15 days to complete.

A different angle showing the fire coming down---I lit this one:

Yours truly admiring my work. Incidentally, "Engine 354" written on my windshield is my stepson's USFS engine---it was the first fire we worked together:

[Rwy in Sight]

G-man, every year I wish the fire-fighting crews of the national AF during their open-door day in November to get really bored over the summer with a lack of flying. Unfortunately they have to fly and save the forest and properties. Thank you very much for all the hard work you put every year even several time zones away.

[TheGreenGoblin]

While back in SA 3 weeks ago I drove up to UCT to see the damage caused by the Devil's Peak fire which destroyed the Jagger library, and jumped the double lane highway and raced through the Rose Garden destroying the historic windmill. Apparently it had spread and jumped the peak and was burning down the other side of the mountain towards the heavily populated area of University Estate and the old District 6 area. It was only a change of wind that spared the city from a total disaster in that area.

I spoke to a friend who witnessed the fire front and said he had never seen a forest fire that bad so close to the city with flames reaching over 100 feet high.

There can be no doubt that these fires are getting worse, worldwide.

https://images.app.goo.gl/qteu54SZZK2ysVbu7

[TheGreenGoblin]

A different angle showing the fire coming down---I lit this one:

What's the process of lighting a controlled burn from a helicopter?

I ask because of the Lorenzo Bandini's awful fiery crash at Monaco, where the flames appeared to have been fanned by the TV news helicopter filming above him.

The marshals had only ropes with which to try to right the car. Worse, none had fireproof clothing, and such extinguishers as they had on the spot were useless. Nearly five minutes went by before they managed to turn the car over, and manhandle the driver from the cockpit. As they carried him away, a TV helicopter hovered low over the scene, its rotor blades fanning the fire into life again: unprotected, the marshals ran clear, dropping Bandini as they did so. It was a scene from Hades. Eventually the mortally injured driver was taken across the harbour on a launch, thence by ambulance to the Princess Grace Clinic, where three days later he died. Margherita Bandini, deep in shock, was taken to the same hospital, alas too late to save her first child.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... ndsome-man

I guess in the case of a controlled burn a bit of downwash that fans the flames would actually be helpful.

[G~Man]

What's the process of lighting a controlled burn from a helicopter?

There is no downwash from the helicopter, we light them using either PSD's, (Plastic Sphere Devices--more to follow), or a helitorch. We are typically burning out thousands of acres at a time, although I have down smaller burns.

We have a machine on-board that drops the PSD's, basically ping pong balls, they contain potassium permanganate, and are injected with glycol right as they drop from the aircraft. Due to the exothermic reaction, they spontaneously combust about 30 seconds later. We control the drop spacing and placement of the balls. By dropping them in a line, we create a line of fire as they merge. By use of careful line spacing, we can control how intense the fire gets, thereby controlling flame lengths etc. We can just burn the understory, and light brush without burning the trees down. Here is what that looks like:
The machine:

Lines of fire in grass:

Here you can see we just burned the brush, not the trees

And a video of a PSD burn---yours truly, you can see the rows of balls dropped and where they have formed a line:



We also have a helitorch, which is basically a 55 gallon drum that we fill with napalm, (gas/diesel mixed with a gelling agent called Flash 21), that I can control and drop "balls of fire" as we have ignitors at the end of the discharge tube:

Here is a video of me using the torch.....you hear me discussing tactics with the guys on the ground:

[TheGreenGoblin]

Thanks for the fulsome and very interesting response.

[Woody]

Another bad one

https://www.capetownetc.com/featured/vi ... a1kHumFZaw

[TheGreenGoblin]

Speaking to my ex-wife, it is a bad one as you say Woody... very sad to see.

https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/up ... uxbndlbing

[TheGreenGoblin]

There is no downwash from the helicopter, we light them using either PSD's, (Plastic Sphere Devices--more to follow), or a helitorch. We are typically burning out thousands of acres at a time, although I have down smaller burns.

I watched the videos a couple of times. Amazingly efficient and accurate. Clearly easier to hit accuracy on a wider front from the air. What's the process for replenishing the helitorch?

[Hydromet]

Woody & TGG, is this the usual time of year for bush fires in that neck of the woods? It would be unusual, though not unknown, here, but the fire season is starting earlier it seems.

Anyway, hope they are sorted quicky and minimum damage, and all are safe.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Woody & TGG, is this the usual time of year for bush fires in that neck of the woods? It would be unusual, though not unknown, here, but the fire season is starting earlier it seems.

Anyway, hope they are sorted quicky and minimum damage, and all are safe.

Hydromet, the Cape Peninsular and environs is a winter rainfall region, and thus 20 to 30 years ago we would not have expected such warm, dry conditions at this time of the year that are so conducive to bad forest fires but, as I discovered when I was over last month, the interior of the province has become hotter and the onset of the low pressure cold frontal areas from the far southern latitudes pulls very warm air off the high plateau and compresses the air flowing down to the coastal plain resulting in very warm berg wind conditions, even this far into the winter season. The only glimmer of hope is that once the front arrives the wind will wrap round from the northwest and heavy rain is likely. vide. today's forecast from the Cape Town area:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/fo ... 2022-06-12

[G~Man]

I watched the videos a couple of times. Amazingly efficient and accurate. Clearly easier to hit accuracy on a wider front from the air. What's the process for replenishing the helitorch?

I fly back to helibase and it is re-filled. Each batch lasts about 15 minutes.....I have done 600 gallons in one day before.....

[TheGreenGoblin]

I watched the videos a couple of times. Amazingly efficient and accurate. Clearly easier to hit accuracy on a wider front from the air. What's the process for replenishing the helitorch?

I fly back to helibase and it is re-filled. Each batch lasts about 15 minutes.....I have done 600 gallons in one day before.....

Sounds like very hard work for all concerned. Good on you folks who do this.

[Hydromet]

Thanks for that explanation, TGG. Hope you get the rain you need.

[John Hill]

One summer, 1955 or so, the crew of a steam locomotive disposed of their box of used cotton waste by tossing it in the firebox (that is the story anyway). Middle of summer, roaring nor'west wind and the train was thundering across the farmlands spewing fire and destruction over about 5 miles. No irrigation in that area in those days and what was not tinder dry grass was ripening crops of grain. I do not recall hearing that any houses were lost but hundreds( thousands?) of acres ablaze.

One farmer was later claiming the longest straight furrow ploughed in one day, 35 - 40 miles. Most of it done with a wet sack over his head and hunched over the steering wheel of his Lanz Bulldog! They were ploughing firebreaks as fast as they could as that was the only real weapon against the fire.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Calfornia’s Furnace Creek is set to hit record temperatures this year at 118F or 47C as large parts of southwestern America suffer through sweltering heat, affecting over 60 million people.

Temperatures in several areas in Texas, California and Nevada, including Pheonix and Las Vegas, are touching triple digits on the Fahrenheit scale, according to warnings issued by the country’s weather department.

Excessive heat warnings and advisories currently cover “an expansive area” of the US, and “critical fire weather conditions is expected across the southwest into the southern and central rockies and high plains”, the National Weather Service said.

Dangerous heat is expected to extend from the Midwest to the Southeast through midweek, it said.

“Another night of record-setting heat is expected across those areas, with nighttime temperatures forecast to bottom out in the upper 70s and 80s in many locations,” it further added.

The heat will continue to shift farther northeast into the upper Mississippi Valley, western Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley, while continuing to build over the southern Mid Atlantic and Southeast on Tuesday, it further warned.

The advisory said red flag warnings have been raised on Monday for large portions of southeastern Utah, southwestern Colorado, northern and central Arizona and New Mexico.

Record-breaking temperatures will be seen in Texas, with areas like Amarillo, Abilene and Dallas touching 105 degrees, ABC News reported.

The Furnace Creek area of California, also called the “death valley”, is generally regarded as the hottest place on earth. It saw a record temperature of 132F or 54C in August 2020.

The town has a population of just 136 people, according to the 2020 census. Most of those living in the area are those who work at the Death Valley national park.

The vast, desert area is filled with canyons and sand dunes and is located close to the border with neighbouring Nevada.

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-c ... 99594.html

[G~Man]

Here you go TGG, I know how you love to watch videos, this is what a 6 week fire contract in Minnesota looks like, and yes that is ice build up on my bucket...lol: