Fire Season

It is now the time of year when the southern California news starts to talk about the fire season. It was a traditional season that started in the late summer and went until the first rains of the year in late October or early November. Now with the changes in weather and the more limited amounts of rain that we have been receiving the fire season never really ends. Maybe some of the elected officials will admit that fact some day soon. Some of the more expensive fire fighting equipment is now only available during the fall months because they lease these from other parts of the country or from our neighbors to the north in Quebec Canada. When the Bombardier 415 “Super Scoopers” arrive it is a dramatic aircraft to watch especially since I get to see both of the leased aircraft flying in formation either practicing or flying to and from an actual event. They do make a dramatic entrance and are a great source of water to put on a fire. The ability to reload closer to the fire is their advantage over the even bigger L10-ll that holds much more water and retardant but makes many less trips because of the need to return to a base to refill.
YouTube - Newhall Fire -Massive super scooper Drops 10-23-07 Very COOL
Some of the times that I have been closer to the aircraft have given me a more dramatic view of these valiant fighters. I had one close encounter with the Erickson S-64F "skycrain" when it filled up at a local man made lake. The fill up was so close to homes and paths that people just stopped and watched. It just slowly sinks toward the water as it pumps water into its holding tanks and when it is full and finally lifting off it sprays the whole area with the water that it blows off of the surface of the lake. You have such a felling and a respect for the power of the aircraft that you can not move. After the aircraft left then the reality of how dumb I was to stay so close and even more respect for the abilities that the crew had shown to me. My first experience with brush fires was many years ago when I was working in the San Fernando area. One of the bigger foothill fires came all the way from behind Glendale and to the area were I was working. We went up on the roof of the factory were I was working to be sure that no sparks or ash were falling on the building. It was located very near the hills in a small valley. I became aware that it was not in a great location when I counted all of the fire trucks parked in front of the building and then the four engine “borate” bomber came right over our heads and then slowly climbed as in neared the hills in front of us. I was not in that location much longer when we were advised by fire officials that it was best for us to leave the area. Our building was not damaged because of the work of the fire fighters even though the vacant fields around the building were scorched. All the damage that we had was an outside paint storage area that was damaged. Considering what many people have gone through I have not even been close and all that I can say from my personal experience is:
THANK YOU FIRE FIGHTERS FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO EVERY DAY NOT JUST WHEN THE NEWS MEDIA IS WATCHING.