Firefighting Blimp?
This article is a little dated (October 1997), but it proposes an interesting idea - use a blimp for firefighting (from Technology Review).
Mike deGyurky, a program manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., figures there must be a better way to handle such emergencies. His novel approach would entail deploying a giant blimp, perhaps a mile in length. With a capacity of 50,000 tons or more, such an airship could pour more than 10 million gallons of water on a forest fire. It could also be used to transport food and water (perhaps even a small iceberg) to drought-stricken regions, dump tons of dirt and sand on a nuclear reactor to smother an incipient meltdown, or even deploy a vast tarp to contain oil spills from leaky seafaring tankers.
That is a LOT of water. However, there are a bunch of questions that need to be answered.
Would the heat and smoke affect the ship? How would the ship handle above mountainous terrain? Could they get close enough to the ground to actually drop the water where it is needed? Would the release of too much water erode the loose soil and ash interior of the fire?
This is really an interesting idea but until we know the answers to the questions above (and many other questions), we won't know if it will work.
Also, the cost of building a ship of that size would be very high. Would it be cost effective?
After doing a quick search on Google, I found a couple of more articles:
From New Scientist.com:
They suggest using 300-metre-long propeller-powered airships carrying just under one million litres of water and flying high above the flames. From there, adjustable valves on the underside of the balloon--much like large shower heads--will pump out a staggering 200,000 litres an hour over a large area of the fire. They could also have a few water cannon that can be directed over particularly persistent hot spots.
In Aerospace-technology.com, they have an article about the SkyCat which is a lighter-than-air vehicle used to haul heavy loads. They have a cool picture of what a SkyCat would look like dropping water.
