The forests on the west coast of North America were particularly badly hit this summer: A fire that has been raging in northern California since Friday has now developed into the largest forest fire in the US west coast state since the beginning of this year’s fire season.
According to the fire department, more than 20,600 hectares of the Klamath National Forest have already been destroyed. Over 2000 people were asked to get to safety. The largest fire in California to date, the “Oak Fire” near Yosemite National Park, broke out near Yosemite National Park in mid-July and had also spread rapidly.
The ground forces are supported by pilots from the air. There has been a fleet of fire-fighting aircraft in the state since 1931, which are now subordinated to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire for short.
Due to the recent dramatic fires and persistent drought, the authority’s budget has been increased. Today, Cal Fire monitors an area of 120,000 square kilometers and coordinates approximately 50 aircraft and helicopters for surveillance and, most importantly, early firefighting.
Mostly converted military aircraft are used, which are equipped with water tanks. But also wide-bodied jets of the type Douglas DC-10 and Boeing 747-400 were converted for their new task, whereby the “Tanker 944” of the company Global SuperTanker is considered the largest fire-fighting aircraft in the world. The capacity of the tanks is more than 72,000 liters.
Amphibious aircraft can suck up water in a matter of seconds
The Canadair CL-415, an amphibious aircraft from Canada that was specially developed for firefighting, is used in the Mediterranean countries. The propeller aircraft can take off from both land and water and fly to their locations.
Regardless of the size of the aircraft used, the flying water tanks are mixed with additives as far as possible. For two reasons: Firstly, colored phosphates are intended to mark the areas on the ground that have already been sprayed. On the other hand, thickening agents and mucilage are added so that the extinguishing liquid sticks longer to trunks, twigs and bushes.
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