Air Tanker Plan Next Year
Back in December of 2002, air tanker crashes prompted a report that said the current air tanker system was unsustainable. Almost four years later, we are still waiting for a new plan. We'll have to wait until next spring for the new plan (from RockyMountainNews.com).
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Forest Service expects by next spring to have a long-term plan for modernizing the nation's depleted fleet of heavy air tankers, a top federal official assured two Colorado congressmen Thursday....
"Their plan is to fully review the options and in about 10 months, next winter, they plan to release their findings and their plan for the future," Udall said. "That not only would answer the questions of, do we move to a federal fleet rather than a private fleet, but what sorts of aircraft should be in the mix."
Under the current system, private companies own the air tankers and operate them under contract to the federal government. Some have suggested that the federal government take over ownership of the air-tanker fleet.
"There's a legitimate debate about whether the air tanker fleet should be owned and maintained by the federal government," Udall said. "I haven't made up my mind."
First, I'm not sure why it has taken such a ridiculously long time to come up with a new plan.
Second, I don't think the federal government should own these aircraft. Contractors do a great job.
Arson Dog Aids Investigations
I've never worked at a scene with an arson dog, so I don't know much about them. This article from MyrtleBeachOnline.com has a lot of information about the subject.
NANTAHALA, N.C. - Sgt. Don Willis strapped a bag full of dog food to his waist and called his partner out of the back of the Macon County Sheriff's Office crime scene truck.Christine, a black Labrador retriever trained to detect fuels used in arsons, hopped out and immediately went to work.
"Seek," Willis said with a gentle tone of voice.
The pair made a sweep of a small building that had burned the night before off Wayah Road but found nothing. Had there been fuel in the smoldering rubble, Christine would have indicated the spot by sitting. In an arson investigation, her nose would save Willis hours of work and could mean the difference between finding fuel residue and missing it altogether.
Read the whole article - good stuff.
It would be cool to see one of these teams in action.
288 Foot Aerial Ladder
How high is your aerial ladder ladder? Shanghia, China, is getting some new apparatus with very tall aerial ladders (from ShanghaiDaily.com).
SHANGHAI government will establish 15 public fire stations this year and equip them with imported fire trucks with 88-meter scaling ladders, Shanghai Evening Post report today.The city has more than 4,000 high-rise buildings, which typically have more than 16 floors. The 88-meter ladder will reach more people when fires break out in these skyscrapers.
Here is the conversion: 88 meters = 288 feet. Zoicks!
Roanoke Firefighters has a post on this type of rig from a couple of months ago. It is a Bronto Skylift. Here is the website.
