Transport truck gets watered down

[isawlogs]

Trans-Labrador (Canada) Highway Accident between a Grader & Transport Truck. A fire started and was soon engulfing the entire cab, lucky the driver did get out & survived.

Because of such a remote location, emergency vehicles are miles away, so a water bomber is dispatched to extinguish the flames.

I worked with this same type of plane way back on forest fire battles, man those birds are impresive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZkV64GJihA

[pine]

Thanks for the post. That was quite impressive.  Wish the video had gone on for another 20 seconds to see the aftermath of the drop

[Magicman]

Yes, very impressive for sure.   I was thinking that it wasn't going to happen and then...Wow.

[jargo432]

Now THAT was cool!!

[hardtailjohn]

Gotta love a CL415!!!  I've seen that video a bunch of times and it never gets old. 8)
John

[isawlogs]

 When I worked for the sopfeu Maniwaki ( forest fire protection .. If you gooooogle sopfeu Maniwaki you will get pics of the place  ;) ). way back when , the planes used where CL215 I have no clue what they are using today for planes but they did pack a punch when they let there water cargo go. 

[petefrom bearswamp]

Isaw
I go thru Manawaki on my way to Ottawa river in La vendre.
Are you near there?
Also went to Hibou on the Gouin a couple of years ago.
167 miles of bad dirt road but the fishing was good.
I really enjoy visiting French Canada (Quebec)
Pete

[drobertson]

I second the wow! Big splash!

[isawlogs]

 Pete from da swamp 

  You drive right by me if you go through Ottawa to get to the La Vérendrye. I am on the 105 in Chelsea qc now. 25 minutes north of Ottawa.

You coming up this way this sumer  ???

I fished the Gouin reservoir many times, the road to get there was never an easy task. But the fishing was always great, all but three years ago when the water level was really low, many bottom ends where casualties of the drought(low water).
  Been going to the Capimitchigama lake, its part of the Outaouais river it is the lower leg of lake Ottawa on the east side of the La Vérendrye parc. My brother has a camp on the Capi, far from 5 stars, but I am sure we can make do if you're coming up.  ;) ;)

Taken on the Capimitchigama lake last summer.



 

There is some fish under the boat...  8)



 

[sawguy21]

That  bomber was really effective but what a mess to clean up. The retardant sticks like glue. I was in a line of traffic stopped while they took on a grass fire racing up the hill beside the highway. We watched the planes skim the lake, climb to the top of the ridge, do a 180 then roar down just over the tree tops dropping the load. Better than a movie.  ;D Those guys have ice water in their veins, one mistake they are DEAD.

[Brucer]

Stories ...

#1) I took a photo from a boat of a 4 engine Canso water bomber picking up water off the surface of a lake. It's coming straight at me, and everyone who saw the picture thought I was nuts. I assured them I knew for sure he'd lift off before he got near me.

"How could you possibly know that for sure?" people would demand. Well, I just said I was sure. (But I'll spill the secret here ... there was a rock cliff rising out of the water directly behind me ;D).

I'll have do dig through my old slides and see if I can find it.

#2) Fighting a forest fire in the '60's. I was working in a sawmill that summer and the forest service shut us down -- and drafted all the workers. That was the law in BC in those days. Things are a lot different now.

We got bussed to the staging area -- the old hands very laid back, and us young bucks very nervous. First thing we saw was a young forest service guy walking around in purple clothes. Purple from head to foot -- even his hat and boots. It seems he was a greenhorn too, and had just called in a water bomber to a hot spot. It didn't quite occur to him that he was standing beside said hot spot. His boss wouldn't let him change for the rest of his shift  :D.

For those of you not familiar with the process, they often put red or purple dye in the load to mark the covered area. They also add in bentonite clay to make the load stay together as it drops. It's a really eerie feeling to walk through an area that's been hit recently by a load of dyed water. All the vegetation, normally green, grey, & brown, is a uniform red or purple colour. It feels like you're on another planet.

#3) Three years ago had a lightning strike come down on the mountain side directly west of the field where my mill was set up -- About 3 km (2 miles away). The mill was pointing straight at the fire. I got to watch the air tankers make several passes trying to nail it. The fire wasn't that big but it was on a steep side slope and they kept missing. I think they must have had a complete fire break around the fire before they got it square on :D. Didn't have the camera with me so no pictures.

#4) My neighbour's brother was killed in 2003 near Kelowna, BC, while flying an air tanker :'(. That was the year of the firestorms in BC. Those guys have my complete respect.

And a final note of trivia. Here in BC if the plane picks up a load off the surface of a lake or river, it's called a water bomber. If it get's filled via hose at a land-based airfield, it's called an air tanker. And if it picks up water in a big bucket that hangs below it, it's called a helicopter.  ;D

[shinnlinger]

Brucer,
I happen to be visiting my father in law who worked in the mills in bc back in the mid  50's and I asked if he was ever conscripted to fight forest fires.   He said no but almost.   His buddies were down at the local watering hole and got drafted and the bar got shut down.        He drew the short straw and had to go to town and get booze as a result and when he came back the rest of the camp had been drafted.   He had nothing to do for a week except get drunk. 
Dave

[Brucer]

In the 50's and 60's, the law in BC allowed the police to draft any able-bodied male over a certain age to fight local forest fires.

There was an informal hierarchy to it all. First they hit the loggers. Since the forests would be closed in any case, that was a no-brainer. Then they hit the sawmills. With no logging taking place, our wood supply ran out out pretty quickly. That's how I got drafted.

After that they'd go into the nearby communities. Typical scenario ... an able-bodied guy is walking down the street in the middle of the morning:
Cop: "Good morning sir, what are you doing right now?"
Able-Bodied Guy: "Me? Oh nothing in particular."
C: "Well sir, I have something you can do. Come with me."

That sort of thing won't happen today. Special training, fitness tests, etc. They finally figured out that an untrained guy on the line was more of a risk than a help.