Tanker 910 arrives down under

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Tanker 910 arrives down under

The eagle has landed - Victoria has finally taken delivery of a super water bomber for the bushfire season.

The heavily modified DC10 flew in from the US to Avalon yesterday, on a $10 million lease deal.

The first such aircraft to be used in Australia, it can reach any part of Victoria within 45 minutes and soak 1.2 kilometres of bushfire in one dump with its 45,000 litres of water.

It is expected to be ready for action by early next month for the worst of the season, and will be based at Avalon.

Premier John Brumby said the addition to Victoria's firefighting arsenal was part of a record financing program to make sure the state was as fire-ready as possible.

"We have been working with the Country Fire Authority since September to bring a large aerial firefighting aircraft to Victoria for the first time to help protect lives and properties," Mr Brumby said.

"Large aircraft that can carry up to eight times the water or retardant of smaller firefighting aircraft are untried in Australian conditions. Victoria will lead the way in testing their ability to help fight fires in the peak of this fire season," he said.

The plane will be deployed when and if necessary by the state's top firefighters.

But both the Department of Sustainability and the CFA have warned that aircraft are not silver bullets in fighting bushfires.

The Elvis skycrane arrived in Victoria last month.

CalFire has previously contracted for the DC-10 VLAT for three fire seasons, from 2007 through 2009. 10 Tanker Air Carrier has a total of two DC-10s that have been retrofitted as “very large air tankers, which can carry up to 12,000 gallons.

Source: Herald Sun - Article Link
More Info: 10 Tanker Air Carrier home - Link

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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Saturday, December 19, 2009