Fire on the Mountain

Vaughn McMillan

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Shot these pics from my backyard a couple hours ago. There was a brush fire just over the ridge on the hill between our house and the 210 freeway, a little more than a mile from the house. Nothing real worrisome, and they had it knocked most of the way down by the time I go the camera out, but a good chance to try out my telephoto lens (low-end Nikon 70-300mm) and the rapid fire mode on my D50. This is one of three helicopters I saw dropping water on the fire. You can see the bulldozer opening up a fire break, while the chopper is hosing things down just below the ridgeline.

These shots are cropped from larger frames so they're not the highest quality (roughly the middle 1200 x 900 pixels from a 3000 x 2000 frame, just for reference).

Water Drop AT 800.jpg
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Water Drop FT 800.jpg
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Water Drop HT 800.jpg
 
We've got our seasonal fires all around us now. Some as near as 10 miles away....some closer. Yesterday I had to drive up out of the canyon to the town of Cottonwood Idaho to work on a mobile MR system. 58 miles of smoke while driving on the Camas Prairie.........It's that season for us.....We've been in a drought cycle for 9 out of the last 10 years.....
 
Great pics Vaughn!

Strikes me that if flying a helicopter low over a smokey, hilly, probably windy area weren't dangerous enough, that poor guy's got some big power lines right there to worry about too! :eek:

There was just a wildfire at Kitt Peak where I used to work. Lucky it's mostly little oaks and pinons (or similar pine) there and a little easier to control, they managed to keep it away from the observatory, but a friend told me that they cut down just about every tree in the area.
 
I've never seen a helicopter water bomber. I wonder how they fill up?

Years ago in Toronto at an air show I saw a Canadian(?) water bomber plane in action. They lit a fire on a barge, it flew by and dumped on it, and then flew out into the lake and re-loaded, and then dumped again.

They re-load by flying low and slow over the water, and drop down a belly scoop, then they drop down like they're landing on the water, and whammo, full plane of water.

I bet the plane takes some serious stress when doing so.

Still, that way they can reload without returning to base. They just drop by a nearby lake and relaod. Works great in the northern wilderness. Which makes me wonder how they reload a helicopter.
 
neat shots vaughn! but you ought to have been in a forest fire and have those helicopters and the big water planes flying overhead while in a tree now that was exciting. sometimes the wind and smoke was so bad that you couldnt see the planes tillthey got out of the smoke.. urnt several thousnad acres in oregon..umatilia forrest
 
I've never seen a helicopter water bomber. I wonder how they fill up?

Years ago in Toronto at an air show I saw a Canadian(?) water bomber plane in action. They lit a fire on a barge, it flew by and dumped on it, and then flew out into the lake and re-loaded, and then dumped again.

They re-load by flying low and slow over the water, and drop down a belly scoop, then they drop down like they're landing on the water, and whammo, full plane of water.

I bet the plane takes some serious stress when doing so.

Still, that way they can reload without returning to base. They just drop by a nearby lake and relaod. Works great in the northern wilderness. Which makes me wonder how they reload a helicopter.
Art, the helicopter in the picture sequence looks like one that has to land before filling. They are filled much like a water truck -- from a large hose and a hydrant. Some of the choppers have a large hose that hangs below the fuselage so the pilot can hover over a body of water (lake, ocean, even swimming pools) and pump in a new load of water. Like this:

Water Drop 3 800.jpg Water Drop 4 800.jpg

We've got some of the Canadian "Super Scooper" planes out here. There was a big hoolpa when they started using them a few years ago. They are very cool, in that not only are they fast to fill, but they hold a LOT of water.
 
We've got some of the Canadian "Super Scooper" planes out here. There was a big hoolpa when they started using them a few years ago. They are very cool, in that not only are they fast to fill, but they hold a LOT of water.

After I posted I was thinking that a 'scooper' plane really only makes sense in a wilderness area that has lots of lakes. You guys live in a desert, so a land-n-refill probably makes sense.

And yeah, a LOT of water. Probably a few fish as well, considering how they refill. :huh:
 
In 2003 there was a massive fire near, well in parts of my hometown, Kelowna BC. No one died, but the fire wiped out about 250 homes, IIRC and consumed over 60,000 acres of land.

The Martin Mars were called in to help out, they are two WWII vintage seaplanes converted to water bombers..........

martinmars-cflyk-olafson.jpg martin-mars.jpg

There were also a bunch of smaller planes and Helos......

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Some of the pics still take my breath away.........

donmcphail06.jpg stevecoutts01.jpg donmcphail14.jpg
johnmorrison12.jpg donmcphail01.jpg DSC_0049.JPG

In a lot of the at night pics, you can see the home and street lights as well as the fire.... :eek:
 
What I said is actually a compliment to Nikon. Sorta.
I understand now. I think you meant "contradiction" instead of "oxymoron". ;)

Glad to hear your Sony's back...it does take good pictures. It looks like the date on the Sony got reset to January 1, though. Either that, or you took the picture last year. :)

Jade Junior Gent Picture Properties.jpg

And you and I both know those dinosaur film cameras in the cabinet can still take superb pictures. Just takes a little longer to see the results. :thumb:
 
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