Cal Fire gives a tour of the new equipment ahead of California wildfire season

[@rgs4x]

C-130's are one of the best planes ever made.

[@tgmccoy1556]

I've always been impressed with Calfire. More aircraft and equipment means better response. Former airtanker pilot here.

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

More aircraft = More suppression = More fuelload = More megafire = More desertification.

[@elihunterhanoverproductions707]

@@whatilearnttoday5295 How does More suppression = More Fuel Load??? PLZ EDUCATE ME

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

@@elihunterhanoverproductions707 Normally fuel-load is consumed by wildfire. When you put out the fire, it is not. It builds up year after year after year, until you have a mega-fire. At which point the entire ecosystem collapses and is converted to desert.

[@danielr3933]

CalFire set the standard for Wildland response across the nation. They are the founding fathers of NIMS (Their system FIRESCOPE led to the creation of NIMS)

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

@@danielr3933 The standard is wrong. You're creating megafire and desertification.

[@ChefJ_reece]

After working on the fires in 2021 I'll tell you this is desperately needed. Great to see!

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

It's not desperately needed. It's the cause of the megafires.

[@turkeyboyjh1]

@@whatilearnttoday5295 land management is needed not more equipment

[@AugustDH]

@@whatilearnttoday5295nonsense

[@sakumisan]

One of the Blackhawks is based at my local airport. Can hear it take off every time. I appreciate all the work CalFire does to keep us safe!

[@WootTootZoot]

Thank you Cal Fire, for more than you'll ever know.

[@paul9156c]

I think Cal Fire is the best wildfire fighting force in the country. But I might be biased because I'm a Californian who has seen them in action.

[@josephwilson3077]

Beautiful aircraft. My favorite is the Canadian AirSpray L188. Love the 4 prop drops!

[@geonerd]

7 planes is nice... But there are literally HUNDREDS of C-130s in storage at Davis Monthan AFB. We need to find 3~4 dozen 'good ones' and convert them to create a national tanker service.

[@mcembuff]

There is a National tanker service called “Coulson Aviation.” It’s a private firefighting company that flies international as well to different areas.

[@IdealUser]

Many of those have thousands of hours and aren't airworthy. They strip those for parts. Aerodynamics take a toll on airframes.

[@tonyshield5368]

Britain has just retired a fleet of C130J this week that are airworthy

[@legallyfree2955]

Problem is cost, flying aircraft is expensive, for the price of flying an aircraft for a day you can buy a truck that will serve for 20 years. Not saying aircraft are useless they can save money with their ability to stop a small fire in a remote area getting bigger until it can be extinguished but having too many is just wasting money. Large fires are really controlled by ground crews back burning and burning out along with dozer control lines. Again aircraft can still be useful in a cost effective way at large fires doing asset protection but when you see them dumping water on a giant fire in the middle of nowhere they are just wasting money that could be better spent elsewhere (on trucks, crew, bulldozers and during the off season on crew doing fuel reduction burning).

[@larsord9139]

@@legallyfree2955 I retired from the U.S. Forest Service and I agree with most of what you say. But most of the really large fires I've been on the weather was the turning point.

[@AsianDrag0n]

Me the moment I hear “C-130”: C-130 ROLLING DOWN THE STRIP! 64 RANGERS ON A 1 WAY TRIP!

[@Tuglife912]

Cal Fire now has Lockheed C-130H Hercules!! Awesome! This baby is a beast!

[@Bstir8]

The new helicopters are just that....NEW, not refurbished ones from the military as reported.

[@espeterson522]

I would hope so, because $23million for a used UH-60 is insane.

[@elihunterhanoverproductions707]

@@espeterson522 They aren't UH-60. they are S70I Firehawks

[@gdcleanfun]

Cal Fire rocks!

[@Evulnation]

Is it a pre requisite for all news anchors to act and talk robotic?

[@hellboundslayer]

hmm as far as i know calfire ordered 12 firehawks but had talked about ordering 4 more so did i miss something ?

[@paul9156c]

What no hand rakes to rake the forest floor like they do in Finland?

[@umomiekiller]

I have a feeling they wont have them ready by summer considering its already summer

[@MrFlyboy1313]

More worried about October and November when the Santa Ana winds pick up and dry everything out to start fires

[@umomiekiller]

@MrFlyboy1313 oh im sure they will be ready by then..

[@tmiranda1379]

I’m pretty sure these are the same C-130’s that Calfire has had stored for at least 2 years. What is taking them so long to get them outfitted and in the sky?

[@carlitosanderson6825]

Good to hear.....

[@skie6282]

I hope with all the required reassigned military vehicles they try to recruit some vets

[@MrFlyboy1313]

The vets are making bank flying for the airlines and helicopters for offshore oil exploration

[@amartyaroy3754]

Now imagine smoke jumpers from those C-130s.

[@LMays-cu2hp]

Looking very nice...

[@watchthe1369]

How about some made to purpose Bombardier fire planes that Canada uses?

[@kuckoo9036]

I don't think the C-130s are "gutted" to receive tanks, but are installed in the cargo bay where she was standing. No need to gut anything when you have that much free space to work with. Former Coast Guard avionics tech and radio operator/navigator in 1600 and 1700 series HC-130s, Sacramento, California.

[@squigglycups5666]

Maybe it's more of a overhaul than initially seems, what if the entire cargo bay is sealed to be the nee tank, but if they were doing that why paint it already.

[@LuckySnyde]

Yea you are right but the manufacturer of the maffs units went out of business in the early 2000s or in the 1990s i forget which exactly, and it is even harder to repair them cause of that too. Former USAF/ANG Crew Chief with the 146th AW working on C-130J-30s and assigned to MAFFS 4 and 6

[@patricksawyer9779]

Think about all the mission-specific stuff you guys carried on them that has to be removed and replaced with new firefighting equipment. I don't know how much use they're going to have for, say, an observer station, or the deployment chutes in the upper door. Instead they're going to need things like radios to talk to fire crews on the ground, and the all-important tanks in the hold. It's probably moderate exaggeration, but I think there's more going on behind the scenes than just slapping a fresh paint job on it and throwing some water tanks onto it.

[@cruisinguy6024]

It’s probably about weight not taking up room. Water tankers needed all the available cargo carrying capacity as possible as water is heavy AF so if they can shed a few hundred pounds that’s quite beneficial

[@bbaff8622]

@@LuckySnyde MAFFS was a great idea.

[@stbrian1861]

Whatever happened to the 747 Super Tanker ? Aren't there several 747s being retired that could be converted to Fire Fighting use ?

[@IncredulousIndividual]

Too expensive. Evergreen went out of business because of it.

[@garygolfer3243]

The Global SuperTanker is still operational but there’s only one in the world and other countries often have it under contract.

[@IncredulousIndividual]

​@@garygolfer3243 Not true. The company that purchased it went out of business in 2021 and sold the airframe to National Airlines who said they were going to return it to a cargo configuration. A separate company, Logistic Air purchased the retardant delivery system. They planned to put it in another 747-200 but I don't know how far along that project is. The website originally said that it would be operational in 2022 but they've since changed it to say 2023.

[@garygolfer3243]

@@IncredulousIndividual Roger that. I heard it was flying again in January of this year. I’ll check it out after the weekend.

[@garygolfer3243]

@@IncredulousIndividual Wait - I’m gonna take a tiny credit because it is still in the works and not a completely shut down deal. 😉

[@bryanta7761]

Awesome! Good news. This is what I call our tax money at work. Hopefully these tools help our firefighters this season!

[@jonathanlopez2022]

Better hurry season is here already

[@paxundpeace9970]

Important to take the tech and training.

[@TheSurferboi1992]

turn the c130 into a ac130 and shoot water bombs out the guns lol😂

[@FRIENDHORATIO1]

Pretty awesome

[@census3370]

C-130s from CalFire and Channel Islands CAANG? Prepared to the best for now!

[@hankgs]

They don't have the tanks in yet, but hey, let's get it painted, striped and decaled...!

[@robsalisbury2550]

They are doing great at providing a backdrop for all of those press conferences

[@scottyflintstone]

Nice. Id also like to see a million goats deployed for vegetation management

[@elihunterhanoverproductions707]

It's gonna be worse because the rain made the Fuel grow taller and thicker... it will all be dry by October regardless on how much rain we received

[@SixFox]

Improve forest management for both state and federal forests so we have less major fires

[@patricksawyer9779]

If it was that simple, they would have already done that. It's a combination of multiple factors all coming together, and forest management is only part of the picture. The growing population in the fire zones, increased fuel load from jumping on fires immediately to protect timber industry lands, climate change and droughts stressing or outright killing trees... It's all part of why fires are so destructive and deadly now.

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

Stop fire suppression. Stop water bombing.

[@srs6461]

@@patricksawyer9779 A decrease in wildlife is also another HUGE factor.

[@divegs0902]

Forestry Management might also help…

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

Perhaps not putting out every single fire would be a good idea!

[@crusader8626]

Britains just retired all their hercules if you want those😅

[@robsalisbury2550]

The "Firehawks" are brand new aircraft not military surplus, also we'll be lucky to see the C-130's online before 2026

[@TheTexasDuke]

Don’t waste your water yall finally got 😂hahahaha

[@patricksawyer9779]

They don't drop water. They drop fire retardant. The fires in California are far too hot and fast moving for direct attack with water to be effective. They'll use it where it's appropriate, like jumping on spot fires, but by and large, they're focusing on containing the fire and limiting the spread, not extinguishing it.

[@arnenelson4495]

Better GET ready.

[@HolenkySteiger]

[@gmalda]

Well… we could use this here in Canada, eh..

[@artistmarket1932]

Id love to see upgrades on ground troops...drones, heat suits, etc...

[@ronaldluning4010]

Probably need as many 747s also. Government efficiency at its best.

[@Anythingforfreedom]

Why not just clean the debris from the forest floor? Where's the equipment for that?

[@tomhenry897]

Actually spent the federal money on equipment instead of bonuses

[@codyking4848]

"new". Airframe probably has 22,000 cycles on it.... be safe guys.

[@randyw8687]

fire season ahead and firefighters need that new boat and new 3 axle toybox for the dunes so starting fire will help them get that overtime

[@Walterwalnut-r7e]

does their new equipement help them kill more chained dogs? thats their specality

[@davidcarruthers5850]

well, I still remember 15 years ago when the Navy said they had five choppers loaded with water and blades spinning, the CO asked Cal-Fire where would you like the drops, free of charge. The Cal-Fire leader at the time stated , " we do not fight the Navy's wars and they will not fight ours" that worked real well thousands of acres later. I see Cal-Fire is doing controlled burns now, duh !! newsom must have pulled his head out and made a call . Lets hope things are handled better...

[@juneyshu6197]

They need pilots is another problem, and the work requirements are insane, no one wants it.

[@run-cnc]

all toys compared to the DHC-515

[@charlesotieno8228]

A $3T Economy..wow!

[@12345fowler]

Humanity can multiply it's fire suppression budget by 10 fold at the very minimum. We have entered the age of the pyrocene folks.

[@travisk5589]

With all this rain, I would imagine that the fire season will be minimal this summer. Right guys?

[@elihunterhanoverproductions707]

Nope... It's gonna be worse because the rain made the Fuel grow taller and thicker... it will all be dry by October regardless on how much rain we received

[@robsalisbury2550]

Not entirely accurate, the heavy fuels will carry moisture through the year fairly well compared to the last few years

[@travisk5589]

@@robsalisbury2550 Oh, so they will be able to blame this fire season on drought and climate change. Shocking.

[@turkeyboyjh1]

Nope going to be worse this year because there’s more fuel on the ground than i have ever seen. You have understand these fires start in dry grass that catches brush and manzanita that burns until it gets hot and high enough to catch trees and once it gets hot enough to pull its own wind in it’s pretty much time to cut fire breaks miles away because it will spread at speeds over 60mph

[@robsalisbury2550]

@@turkeyboyjh1 I know, what I’m trying to explain is that the heavy fuels will have a much higher moisture content and fire activity should be lessened because of that. So no it should not be worse.

[@Aiophgy]

AC-130 but its a fire plane

[@araifaza1705]

AC-130 is just a variant of the C-130, the HC-130 they use is also just a variant of the C-130, not AC-130

[@aaronc9247]

They barely have the pilots to fly them. Only reason why they bought these is because they don’t lose the spending budget they get every year

[@aaronc9247]

Ps LA county been flying no ops for years. They refuse to let them help on calfire incidents

[@ArthurDentZaphodBeeb]

Equalize the sound ffs.

[@davenz000]

OK.

[@Hawk3s]

Canada could sure use this equipment right now. 😑

[@MrFlyboy1313]

Canada is doing fine on their own and will call for help if needed

[@drsalt4795]

the wait shouldnt be this long for things our state desperatly needs

[@joshuaerickson2458]

It's like they gave up on keeping fires small or out. Next we'll get a B52 converted for fire operations. Cool stuff though

[@eastbaykidd8574]

The C-130 is a proven and practical fire-fighting tool. Nobody is asking to fight fires with an 8-engined bomber that costs $75K/hour to operate.

[@Jupiter-shorts_]

@@eastbaykidd8574 a c5 galaxy is better than b52

[@Jupiter-shorts_]

@Zakir Siddiqui b52 has more engines but c5m galaxy engines have the most power

[@juneyshu6197]

None are pit out. They go til too big to handle, idk why.

[@patricksawyer9779]

They are still trying to minimize the spread, keep them as small as possible. But they're acknowledging the changing situation and are adapting to fight the fires of the future. A fleet of little Stoofs ain't gonna cut it anymore (though they're still immensely valuable for tying lines together or for confined drops), and there's not enough contract birds to support everyone at once.

[@rajbanwait325]

🔱

[@alexwilliams9900]

Why dose the fire department need military grade equipment. If people don’t want the police to have them. Why is it ok the the fire department to have them?

[@Lolitzi13]

Cause the fire department is not using the military grade equipment for their military-like use. In the end, they are gutting the plane making it a regular plane.

[@airadsworldwide9133]

Wheres the 747 that could put the fires out with ease and quicker than any of those budget justifiers? Guess the guy from Denver was "NOT' part of the family. Shame.

[@Arational]

No plane puts more water on a fire per hour than the CL-515. That's what they should have bought. 182,279 US gallons per day with scooping reload is far more effective than having to go back to an airport and pump in the water for the next load. It delivers the lowest overall cost per gallon of any ariel firefighting aircraft. In good conditions a C-130 can make 15 drops per day for a total of 60,000 gallons, less than 1/3 what a CL-515 can do and less air and ground crew as well.

[@zerodarkthirty7171]

The new CL-515, holding up to 1,850 gallons (7,000 liters),vs c-130 can carry 3,960 gallons (15,000 liters) of water or fire retardant, which can be released in one large drop within seconds or several drops you do the math

[@David..]

I’m surprised they didn’t consult the KZbin comments section before making this purchase

[@TonkaFire2019]

What about that 747 air tanker

[@CyclingSasquatch]

Entirely different mission profiles - direct attack water drops vs. indirect attack/containment lines with retardant drops.

[@markberman8958]

@@David.. Intelligence is found in many places including KZbin comments. No need to disparage someone from sharing their viewpoint. Good ideas aren’t limited to think tanks, board rooms and Ivy League institutions👍

[@davidpak271]

Stop using fire retardants…

[@ernestgiboo9006]

No 747 fire fighting planes? Why?? Oh well! It’s California so I would expect this to be filled up with JP8 “jet fuel” the first time it goes out one it’s first run. Or maybe they’re gonna have 64 hobos Rangers, jumping out. Look out below.

[@TheStateOfEarth]

the 747 tankers keep bankrupting the companies that operate them. C-130s seem better suited for this mission profile.

[@robsalisbury2550]

747 is rather ineffective, other than it looks impressive on camera

[@mischafellner8943]

Please don’t sub out fires

[@LukaNewton-h8u]

Id love to see upgrades on ground troops...drones, heat suits, etc.... Thank you Cal Fire, for more than you'll ever know..

[@anthonyherrick2732]

I bet they only get two of those aircraft ready at best. This is the same government that takes a year to do a mile of road.

[@kendallevans4079]

Heard nothing but excuses and caveat's

[@gordonmculloch4904]

More equipment will be required this summer. America would do well to stop feeding Ukraine, and use the money to equip it’s wild bush fire fighters.

[@MrFlyboy1313]

You think the Russians will stop after stealing Ukraine? Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union with him as dictator

[@timallison8560]

its not always easy to gove credit where credit is due, so you have to say great job governor!

[@anthony7859]

Most countries cannot afford one C-130 and we have seven. California is truly blessed. Thank you Jesus.

[@keithfulcher3058]

That is why California is +32 billion in debt.

[@rats2864]

Yeah like the UK just got rid of it’s C-130 fleet

[@frankmorris4790]

Howbout allowing the logger and cowman back on the forest? Nah, that would work and cost less. "Those things once the ruin of the forest may now be it's salvation, Fire , the axe, the gun and the cow." ~Aldo Leopold~

[@TheEvanAlmightyy]

bro needs a refund on that haircut.

[@somedude1771]

@ABC10 please fire the audio balancing person. They literally didn't do their job that was nonsense... Hire me ffs its not that hard