Communist_Manifesto: Hopefully there aren't any big fires elsewhere in the nation. More than half of our wildfire fighting equipment is in Colorado right now, and it looks like the temperature is going to keep hovering around 100 degrees without any rain in sight

Yeah, we had that last weekend here in Utah, and then had a day with 30 mph+ winds. We got off lucky though.

I'm REALLY not ready for it to start hitting 100 degrees, that's for sure, I was supposed to get another 3 weeks before it got hot. It could be worse though, I could still be stuck in Az...

what a waste of resources. let it burn, and don't live in a fire zone, dumbasses.

Sensei Can You See: Pssst: Just because James Dobson and Ted Haggard live here doesn't mean everyone is like them.

Pssst: Will Perkins was around well before those guys.

Anyone else read the headline as "the military steps in with C-3PO's"??

just found this beauty http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/story/2012-06-25/Colorado-Upda tes-on-the-fires-vacation-tips/55806328/1

Arkanaut: Maud Dib: Screw prop planes, they need this bad boy. Saw it at work in the Texas wildfires last year.


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That one probably needs a longer runway though.

What I'm wondering is if we have those planes that can scoop up water from a nearby lake and dump it on a fire. I think we used to use converted PBY's, and the Russians have built some using more recent airframes.



Unfortunatley, I don't think we have that much water in the whole state

Earpj: /Did you go to high school there? I graduated from Wasson.

I dropped out of Wasson.

Why does God hate Colorado Springs?

So there's absolutely no "Where's Pyro?" image ready for the stealin'? Come on internet what the fark?

I was evac'd out yesterday morning, but they let us go back home last night. Incredibly hot and dry with no sign of relief for at least the next week. Walking outside is miserable with all the smoke in the air. They're saying the fire is 5% contained which may not seem like much, but that's 5% more than it's been for the last two days.

Anyone who says we chose to live in a fire zone is totally clueless. There has NEVER been an event like this in the last 30-40 years at least.

wrrgarbl government intervention let it burn wrrgarbl

ProfessorOhki: notmtwain: Wow, fighting a 5,000 acre fire with a plane that can carry almost 3000 gallons of water at a time.

I'll bet they can effectively cover up to five acres with just one plane.

// They have a couple hundred of those planes, right?

I'm no expert on firefighting, but I assume that you can use each plane more than once.

Sorry, kill streaks don't stack.

I used to live in the Springs, I love Waldo Canyon, and I hope all ends well, but I do chuckle when I see that most of the tab for this is being paid for by the feds. Typical for the "bootstrappy" Springs. Deride the government, but take the money.

firefly212: Arkanaut: Maud Dib: Screw prop planes, they need this bad boy. Saw it at work in the Texas wildfires last year.


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That one probably needs a longer runway though.

What I'm wondering is if we have those planes that can scoop up water from a nearby lake and dump it on a fire. I think we used to use converted PBY's, and the Russians have built some using more recent airframes.

Example:
[upload.wikimedia.org image 639x480]

Bombardier makes some awesome planes that scoop up water from lakes and dump them, I saw one go over about an hour ago.

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Canadair CL215's (now made by bombardier) are stationed all over the Canadian prairies to fight fires, and they do a damn good job, too. They fill up from a lake in under 30 seconds and can do up to 6 waterbombing runs an hour, depending on distances from a suitable body of water. I spent a few months working on a base a few hundred meters from one of their runways.

That's the answer - 1000lb bombs.

The way the winds are blowing now, the AIR FORCE ACADEMY is in plenty of potential danger too, so kindly take a moment to suck it!

I'm in Woodland Park, CO and the fire is 5.5 miles from us over Rampart Range. I can smell the smoke and see the plumes over the ridges from the deck. Packed and ready to go but I'm not leaving until I absolutely have to. Been down this path with the Heyman Fire in 2002.

Someone has been running around lighting fires in the western part of the county. The scanners are saying 2 females in a silver Subaru are wanted for questioning.

bobfloyd:

Anyone who says we chose to live in a fire zone is totally clueless. There has NEVER been an event like this in the last 30-40 years at least lives somewhere flat with no trees.

FTFY. Feel free to ignore flyover state morons. Fires like this are serious. When the Mississippi floods and takes out half the mid-west again, you'll know what to do.

drhansenej: I used to live in the Springs, I love Waldo Canyon, and I hope all ends well, but I do chuckle when I see that most of the tab for this is being paid for by the feds. Typical for the "bootstrappy" Springs. Deride the government, but take the money.

The fire is burning entirely in the Pike National Forest, US government land, not municipal CO Springs.

drhansenej: I used to live in the Springs, I love Waldo Canyon, and I hope all ends well, but I do chuckle when I see that most of the tab for this is being paid for by the feds. Typical for the "bootstrappy" Springs. Deride the government, but take the money.

Eh, it's not like the feds would let the AFA and Fort Carson burn just to spite the idiots who are spouting off about how firefighters make too much money and the service should be privatized.

ProfessorOhki: Charlie Freak: firefly212: Maud Dib: Screw prop planes, they need this bad boy. Saw it at work in the Texas wildfires last year.


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payload capacity is all that matters for these things, propulsion type is irrelevant... push come to shove, I'd take a prop, it's slower and has the ability to be slightly more accurate.

Military kinda had to step in to fight this one though, it's at Fort Carson's doorstep.

For really low-level work, I'd stick with the piston engine prop-jobs. There is no spool-up time with them - torque is direct and instantaneous.

Can any of you plane guys tell us if there's a distinct advantage/disadvantage of prop vs. jet when going through really hot air? Or is it not an issue at the altitude they'd be dropping from?

Short version is that a turbo-prop (the herc) is burning a lot more fuel at those altitudes (it's still essentially a jet, just very high bypass) and it's primary internal components are at risk with airborne ash. Piston driven engines have significant advantages at lower altitudes and they are much less susceptible to damage by ash, though air starvation is a risk.

Cheers.

/+13000 hours in a herc cockpit, navigator
//Way too may hours going almost fast at low altitude
///it's not very efficient on fuel, but it's an awesome way to put a lot of mass in an area fast

Are there just TWO C-130's??? There should be 20 or, fark, 200. We can transport millions of pounds of bombs to the other side of the world, but can't haul water/retardant to parts of the US. Come on, some of you fark-free thinkers out there - there's got to be a way to quickly load some kind of large bladder "bombs' on ....say a C-130, bombs that has a biodegradable skin that breaks apart upon dropping.

MaudlinMutantMollusk: AdolfOliverPanties: [t1.gstatic.com image 300x200]

Damn plane scooped too low.

I thought Mythbusters busted that one

Nope. As reported in the Reno Gazette, June of 1983 there is the story of a fire, the water that it took to contain the fire, and a scuba diver named Delmer Darion, employee of the Peppermill Hotel and Casino, Reno, Nevada. Engaged as a blackjack dealer. Well liked and well regarded as a physical, recreational and sporting sort, Delmer's true passion was for the lake. As reported by the coroner, Delmer died of a heart attack somewhere between the lake and the tree.

A most curious side note is the suicide the next day of Craig Hansen, volunteer firefighter, estranged father of four and a poor tendency to drink. Mr. Hansen was the pilot of the plane that quite accidentally lifted Delmer Darion out of the water. Added to this, Mr. Hansen's tortured life met before with Delmer Darion just two nights previous. The weight of the guilt and the measure of coincidence so large, Craig Hansen took his life.

And I am trying to think this was all only a matter of chance ... but no. These strange things happen all the time.

the_immoral_minority: Are there just TWO C-130's??? There should be 20 or, fark, 200. We can transport millions of pounds of bombs to the other side of the world, but can't haul water/retardant to parts of the US. Come on, some of you fark-free thinkers out there - there's got to be a way to quickly load some kind of large bladder "bombs' on ....say a C-130, bombs that has a biodegradable skin that breaks apart upon dropping.

There are 4 in the US, 2 are here. I don't know why there aren't more but this is an unprecedented fire season. It's worse than 2002 and the Heyman Fire due to weather patterns and temps.

Elimiscaf: the_immoral_minority: Are there just TWO C-130's??? There should be 20 or, fark, 200. We can transport millions of pounds of bombs to the other side of the world, but can't haul water/retardant to parts of the US. Come on, some of you fark-free thinkers out there - there's got to be a way to quickly load some kind of large bladder "bombs' on ....say a C-130, bombs that has a biodegradable skin that breaks apart upon dropping.

There are 4 in the US, 2 are here. I don't know why there aren't more but this is an unprecedented fire season. It's worse than 2002 and the Heyman Fire due to weather patterns and temps.

They have to equip them with this: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular _Airborne_FireFighting_System

Not sure how many the US owns.

Have to fight fire with fire. Nuke it from orbit.

Elimiscaf: the_immoral_minority: Are there just TWO C-130's??? There should be 20 or, fark, 200. We can transport millions of pounds of bombs to the other side of the world, but can't haul water/retardant to parts of the US. Come on, some of you fark-free thinkers out there - there's got to be a way to quickly load some kind of large bladder "bombs' on ....say a C-130, bombs that has a biodegradable skin that breaks apart upon dropping.

There are 4 in the US, 2 are here. I don't know why there aren't more but this is an unprecedented fire season. It's worse than 2002 and the Heyman Fire due to weather patterns and temps.

I think you need to clarify. I have no idea what the current fleet in the US is, but I'd bet a lot they have more than 4 E models in active service (some doing really kewl jobs), and hundreds of H and J kicking about. Unless you're referring specifically to C130s with the necessary kit to do the job at hand.

Cheers.

Actually, um, why isn't the military helping with the civilian fire crisis more? What are we paying you for, civilian forces?

That is all.

P.S. Thank you.

Brian_of_Nazareth: Elimiscaf: the_immoral_minority: Are there just TWO C-130's??? There should be 20 or, fark, 200. We can transport millions of pounds of bombs to the other side of the world, but can't haul water/retardant to parts of the US. Come on, some of you fark-free thinkers out there - there's got to be a way to quickly load some kind of large bladder "bombs' on ....say a C-130, bombs that has a biodegradable skin that breaks apart upon dropping.

There are 4 in the US, 2 are here. I don't know why there aren't more but this is an unprecedented fire season. It's worse than 2002 and the Heyman Fire due to weather patterns and temps.

I think you need to clarify. I have no idea what the current fleet in the US is, but I'd bet a lot they have more than 4 E models in active service (some doing really kewl jobs), and hundreds of H and J kicking about. Unless you're referring specifically to C130s with the necessary kit to do the job at hand.

Cheers.

I can't even imagine what the skies would look like if you added 20-200 C-130's on top of the aircraft already working the fire. That just sounds like a recipe for a midair.

jackthezomber: what a waste of resources. let it burn, and don't live in a fire zone, dumbasses.

THIS.

the truth is ugly, and smells like my asshole. that's why we call it the truth, instead of "a good story" or "such a wonderful idea"

CrscntBufS: Last night on the news, the reporters did an interview with one of the pilots who was saying they fly really low, so please don't call 911 reporting that an airplane is about to crash.

/Well, I thought it was humorous.
//I'm on the other side of Pikes Peak from the fire.
///Some idiot is running around El Paso/Teller/Park counties actually starting fires. Boy do the people have plans for that yahoo.


/hot like certain parts of Colorado

Indubitably: Actually, um, why isn't the military helping with the civilian fire crisis more? What are we paying you for, civilian forces?
That is all.
P.S. Thank you.

If this fire was bearing down on Key West, you can bet that the large fundie contingent in Colorado Springs would be calling it punishment from God. But now that it's bearing down on them they are calling in the military to stop it.

bobfloyd: I was evac'd out yesterday morning, but they let us go back home last night. Incredibly hot and dry with no sign of relief for at least the next week. Walking outside is miserable with all the smoke in the air. They're saying the fire is 5% contained which may not seem like much, but that's 5% more than it's been for the last two days.

Anyone who says we chose to live in a fire zone is totally clueless. There has NEVER been an event like this in the last 30-40 years at least.

Well, if you mean in the USA, you might be correct.

Otherwise, Australia (specifically Black Saturday) would like to have a word with you on this cute little bonfire.

/Call me when it turns into an honest-to-FSM firestorm

drhansenej: I used to live in the Springs, I love Waldo Canyon, and I hope all ends well, but I do chuckle when I see that most of the tab for this is being paid for by the feds. Typical for the "bootstrappy" Springs. Deride the government, but take the money.

typical for the entire intermountain west, where many towns only survive because of firefighting money from the feds, then decry the 'damn gummint'

0Icky0: Indubitably: Actually, um, why isn't the military helping with the civilian fire crisis more? What are we paying you for, civilian forces?
That is all.
P.S. Thank you.

If this fire was bearing down on Key West, you can bet that the large fundie contingent in Colorado Springs would be calling it punishment from God. But now that it's bearing down on them they are calling in the military to stop it.

When the shiat hits the fan close to home, perception becomes reality, no?

;)

huckleberg: jackthezomber: what a waste of resources. let it burn, and don't live in a fire zone, dumbasses.

THIS.

the truth is ugly, and smells like my asshole. that's why we call it the truth, instead of "a good story" or "such a wonderful idea"

Except that not long ago, they weren't living in such a tinderbox. It occured around them over the past 30 years.

0Icky0: Indubitably: Actually, um, why isn't the military helping with the civilian fire crisis more? What are we paying you for, civilian forces?
That is all.
P.S. Thank you.

If this fire was bearing down on Key West, you can bet that the large fundie contingent in Colorado Springs would be calling it punishment from God. But now that it's bearing down on them they are calling in the military to stop it.

Given your analogy, you sound very ghey and repressed...and stupid! Hope you live in an earthquake zone or a hurricane zone or a locust zone or a driveby zone.

walkerhound: algrant33: This shiat's about 5 miles from my house. Last night we were completely inundated with smoke, just like the entire south side of town.

It's awfully fun to watch what amounts to a 30-foot tall bonfire just up the hill after sundown, though.

Welcome to the party, CS. I read flames at the north end of the High Park fire topped 200 feet the other day :(

Yeah no kidding. It's like half the state's been burning for three weeks and nobody cares until it's at THEIR back door.

By the way, the vast majority of conservatives in Colorado Springs support ou military with maximum respect, and are greatful for their efforts, unlike whiny, welfare sucking, entitlement seeking folks in the Fark Lib Circle Jerk Club!

Friction8r: Given your analogy, you sound very ghey and repressed...and stupid! Hope you live in an earthquake zone or a hurricane zone or a locust zone or a driveby zone.

Typhoon zone. You got me fundie.