Aussie Bushfires and fire-fighting

[VladTepes]

As anyone who's watched the news overseas will know - Australia is having another bad bushfire season.


People on the ground fighting fires are heroic





but that's not enough. These fires are BIG.

Helicopters dumping water from underslung buckets, crop spraying light aircraft and other small aircraft spraying fire retardant are all well and good (and are in use)




The most famous firefighting helo we have down here: "Elvis"





but these fires are BIG.


For quite a few years now the NSW Rural Fire Service and others) have contracted firefighting aircraft (primarily from Coulson aviation) for the duration of the 'fire season'.  The season came early this year.

Anyway here's one such aircraft - a 737.


see in action: http://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=806







I know what you are thinking. And you're right.. these fires are BIG.



So what do you do when a 737 just can't cut it by itself.




This is what you do:





DC-10 for the win.     (We hope)

[Irish in Oz]

I hope the Greenies have approved the use of all that phosphate.

[grog]

I hope the Greenies got choked by the phosphate. Well put together Vlad. 

[steve porter]

Scary shit indeed, feel for you guys up there, we've been evacuated from our place in the Dandenong's a couple of times and you feel so helpless

[Andre]

I hope the Greenies have approved the use of all that phosphate.

If not approved by them they should be told that it is much preferred to drop phosphate on fires than phosphor on people.

[VladTepes]

The extreme Greens are part of the problem being actively opposed to fuel-reduction burns (when the fire risk is much lower and burns can be controlled). They ought to be held responsible for deaths...

'Because carbon', or some such rubbish.  As if it's not going to go up eventually.  Always has, always will.


(No I'm NOT having a go at anyone politically, simply the extremists involved that call themselves 'green, but literally don't have a clue what real nature looks like).

Anyway /RANT MODE OFF :D

[Sweaty]

RANT MODE ON
Spot on Mike.
Less than 1% of NSW at risk bushland has been back burned this year. Guess why that is  these Extreme Greenies have their heads so far up their own arse, that they claim its climate change. Nothing to do with the fact that they stop back burning/ fuel reduction & wonder why the fires are now more Extreme than ever
People are dying & losing their homes and lifelong possessions/memories while these F""king morons continue to push their bullshit.
Let's set all the Greenies up in nice bushland properties & have no backburning for years around them. See how they feel about it then.

[gsxbarmy]

Can't get my mind around what the real scale of the fires are, given we only see in the UK what the media tells us and shows us. But just from that and the pictures, it looks like it is worse than hell itself. Brave isn't enough to describe the firefighters. Just feel so sorry for all the people who are losing everything as a result of the fire. Nearest I've ever come to anything like this were the California fires of 1991, they were nowhere near this.

If we could send you rain right now and some of our floods, we would.

[grog]

Yeah Barmy, a strange situation here at present. 80 fires still burning. Hasnt affected me but can change in an instant, i have bush very close. Have been breathing smoke for nearly 3 weeks, we feel ok but wonder of long term. On Sunday we had huge storm, you cant believe the damage from hail n wind. Can you imagine a hail stone , 60mm, straight thru windscreen and land on your lap. Sunshine Coast, my area, declared a catastrophy. Every car in one suburb just wrecked. New houses wrecked.

[froudy]

I saw a viedeo of that hailstorm and to say it was biblical was an understatement!!

Hope you're bearing up ok and the fire situation improves very soon.

[Batkwaka]

Hoping the link works because it doesn't blame a particular group except those with the authority to do something.

[Andre]

In the video at 5:55 the guy says "if you look at Germany" and proceeds how many jobs were created through renewable energies. Yes, a lot of jobs were created.

BUT

In Germany we were very successful in killing our solar industry. We are on the right track to kill the windenergy industry as well. 40,000 jobs have been blown into the wind so far. Basically no increase in wind energy generators here last year.

All our nuclear plants are scheduled to be turned off in a couple of years. We are getting out of coal completely.

Were will we get our power from? Especially when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow? From our neighbours!!!  We all know that CO2 and other pollutants honor our national borders

We pay the 2nd highest electricity prices in the EU.

The cars which are not meeting emission standards get sold to our neighbors in the east and Africa.

Yes, responsible are those in authority. But they are influenced by the propaganda of the Greenies and their disciples. The downwards free fall of our wind energy is their doing as well as so much other shite in the regenerative field.

Citing Germany for success in this field is ridiculous

[Kiwifruit]

@Andre. In NZ many areas in our country have high rainfall. We have good output from our energy creating hydro dams.  To increase output in the future we would need to build some more dams....... but !!  Some rare and endangered native snails could be wiped out.
Being a Green is only about telling others what they cannot do. In my view they never provide solutions.

[Irish in Oz]

It would take a long time for those snails to move from that area.

[Sweaty]

It would take a long time for those snails to move from that area.