Aerial Firefighting in 2024
Columbia Helicopters
Columbia has the helicopters, experience, capabilities and team to complete the most difficult missions on the planet.
2024 has seen Columbia Helicopters fight fires around the world - from Turkey, the most Eastern country in Europe, to Oregon in the Western United States.
At home in the U.S., the last decade’s wildfire average is 68,707 wild fires a year – every year, 7 million acres (28,327 square kilometers) of forest and land are being burned.
To put that into perspective, on average, annually, an area the size of Belgium is impacted. That’s 80 times the size of Las Vegas, 36 times the size of New York City, 21 times the size of Los Angeles and 3 times the size of Yellowstone National Park.
Beyond the loss of life and wildlife, damage can include buildings, infrastructure, and power lines.
In 2023 alone, 4,318 structures were destroyed in the U.S. by wildfires, including 3,060 homes, 1,228 minor structures, and 51 commercial/mixed residential structures.
If the wildfire devastation can’t be stopped altogether, what can be done to minimize the impact?
Faster Fire Eradication
At Columbia, we invest in premier heavy-lift helicopters that support fire suppression with a 2,800 gallon tank?(10,599 litters) of water, retardant, and/or foam that can be discharged in under 4 seconds.
Refill time takes 60 seconds, including from a very shallow 18 inch (45 centimeters) water base. Greater payloads translate into overall lower costs and faster firefighting impact on each wildfire, saving lives and wildlife habitats.
As these fires seem to becoming more common, the role for fast response aerial firefighting is likely to get even more important in the years to come.
#Firefighting #USFires #USFireSeason #Reconstruction
Map source: https://hazards.fema.gov/nri/map
Citation for the U.S. wildfires stats: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/fire/202313
Citation for 2023 structural damage: https://www.nifc.gov/sites/default/files/NICC/2-Predictive%20Services/Intelligence/Annual%20Reports/2023/annual_report_2023_0.pdf (page 7)
Zircon Aviation Pty Ltd Developing (VTOL) Wildfire Suppression Aircraft. T/A Zircon Firefly. EcoTech, CO2, Biodiversity, Climate Tech, Deep Tech.
1 个月Zircon Firefly is developing a bespoke VTOL Wildfire Suppression Aircraft called Firefly. Patented thrust based suppression, so no water or chemicals. Will change the way we manage wildfires globally.