if the military was involved California fire would be out in hours?

Question

people get the dust off the C131s and the C130 fill them with water and get involved stop bucking with american lifes and well being , itiot. sign a law just for that reason,why do you put the american people through this when it could be resoved in hours.Why not and what do you think tax payers

all these answers are CA CA DONT tell me our forces shouldnt be used, if anything theses kind of fires should never get this bad. is the constition standing in the way ?

Answer 1

kenny119119, if you had any idea how long it would take to configure C 113's for carry water, by the time the conversation was done the fires would be long out.

The Military probably need their C113's for more important matters like the war in Iraq.

A far simpler method would be to recruit all the people coming over the Mexican border and use them as firefighters or, in the spring months use them to cut back all the brush that is a potential fire hazard in the dry season. You could pay them from a tax on the rich fat cats who live in the hills of California.

That way two problems would be solved.

Answer 2

To your PRIMARY question: "if the military was [sic] involved California fire would be out in hours?", the answer would be NO. It would HELP to have more bodies on the fire, but it wouldn't take the fire "out" in hours. There ARE about 3000 CalGuard personnel, AND 8000 California Prisoners working the fires.

The AREA most of these fires are burning in are STUPID areas to build homes... you're surrounded by acres and acres of Manzanita and Scrub Oak. MOST of the folks up there are NOT maintaining the required clearance around their homes, OR doing the retro-fits that make them more survivable.

Second, very few in the military are trained either in ground wildfire supression OR air-attack for wildfires. The equipment for converting the C-130 costs tens of millions for each unit (conversion and annual upkeep), and the tax-payers haven't gotten Congress to spend money on that.

I worked the Oakland Hills fire as a USN Aircrewman (doing Medevac and supply flights), and am a volunteer fireman with Calaveras County.

Answer 3

those airplanes are NOT equipped to fight fires. You can't just fill the cargo space with water and expect the pane to A: be leakproof, B: be able to take off with all that weight and C: be able to deliver the payload in the most effective manner.

THERE ARE ALREADY MILITARY PLANES ON SITE that ARE equipped as firefighters. as well as troops.

an no, the fires would NOT have been contained within mere hours even if the entire friggin California National Guard and reserves were there. Mother nature is far more devious, especially when aided by arsonists.

Answer 4

It's happening as we speak. California National Guard only has one or two "Firehawks" in it's inventory (These are Blackhawks with special 1000 gallon water containers attached underneath for Fire Fighting). Thanks to the lovely Democrats up north in Sac, that's all we can afford! On top of that, units are already mobilizing under the Governor to go fight the fires as you read this, so it's happening.

The only reason it won't be out in hours is cuz of lack of equipment. One of my units still has old, leftover equipment from Active Duty Units, and we struggle daily just to get the logistical support we need, but we don't get due to lack of funds. If you don't believe me, as a California Guardsmen what his equipment looks like. Some will show you stuff that is in WWII and Korean War Museums!

Answer 5

New South Wales, Australia has the world's largest volunteer fire brigade with 70,000 people and thousands of trucks and dozens of planes at call. Every couple of years we have raging bush fires that destroy vast tracts of land,kill thousands of livestock and native animals and, in the worst case, destroy homes and businesses.

Even with such massive support as the firies get here, there is only so much that can be done. Fires jump across 6 lane highways and major watercourses, and, if pushed by strong winds, can easily travel many dozens of miles per day. Throwing untrained soldiers or converted planes flown by inexperienced fire fighting pilots at the fire may delay the fire, but eventually mother nature puts out the fires, not man and water. The wind will change direction and push the fire back onto previously burnt ground or it will rain.

There are three things needed to sustain a fire. Air, fuel and heat. Remove one and the fire will go out. Major bush fires create their own weather patterns and suck air in from surrounding areas. Fires follow the terrain and fuel to keep going. You can remove fuel, but it is very expensive and labour intensive. As mentioned earlier, fire can cross highways, so it would need to be a very broad firebreak to stop a major fire. Heat can be quelled by water, but even the US military won't have enough water carrying caacity to drench the fire and remove the heat.

Fires of this magnitude do not get put out in hours, regardless of the resources thrown at it. Think weeks, or hopefully days if the weather changes.

Answer 6

The military is involved National Guard airplanes are being used to drop water and fire retardant materials on the fire . As long as the high winds continue they are not going to put the fires out.

Answer 7

There are water carrying aircraft working the fires and some military have volunteered to help dig fire breaks as well. Your knowledge of the military and how firefighting works is limited at best, it appears.

Answer 8

Past fires show that even with the military ,it takes days to fight fires in those canyons.
They used all the Marines at Camp Pendelton once.

Answer 9

I sleep better at night know the military is fighting Terrorist rather than a fire on the left coast.Too bad a few embers cant land on San Fransicko!

Answer 10

no, not really; most guardsmen have little experience in fighting wildfires; job's better suited for trained personnel, like "Smoke Jumpers and Hotshots", that have the training, equipment and experience to work with wildfires.

Nothing against guardsmen; they do an excellent job, but there some things that are best left to people that have the right qualifications.