The All-Purpose Wildfire Thread

First time I've seen a jet doing air drops. We usually have the Dehavilland Scoopers which would have been more effective as there's a lake they scoop from 4 minutes away giving a FAST turn around times on drops. They can go low and slow but the jet can't so the drops were fairly ineffective from a half mile high every 40 minutes.

Recent drone activity has occured over the fire in the Bear Divide Area. When drones interfere with firefighting efforts, a wildfire has the potential to grow larger and cause more damage. On the Sand Fire­­, an FAA Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in effect and any private aircraft or drone that violates the TFR could face serious criminal charges.

PASADENA (AP) — A wildfire that killed two firefighters and burned 89 homes in Los Angeles County, including some in Acton, might have been doused sooner if officials had not delayed aircraft from dropping fire retardant and water, a congressional panel was told Tuesday.

William Derr, a retired Forest Service firefighter, testified that the crew of an air tanker leaving the scene of another fire offered to make a retardant drop on the Station Fire on the August morning it began to explode.

However, the crew was told it was not needed, Derr said.

The retardant “could have been effective in quenching fire” in an area too steep to reach and that eventually burned out of control, he said.

Will Spyrison, the Forest Service’s incident commander at the time, told the panel he wasn’t aware of the claim that an aircraft had been offered and waved off.

Many of the issues raised at the hearing have been detailed in previous reports about the August 2009 fire in and around Angeles National Forest that burned 250 square miles