[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Gerald

BIGGER ain't always better: The 747-400 super tanker used in the Pardise and Brazil fires is out of service due to backruptcy issues....just when 'a von Claucsewitzian level 'increase of firepower' is needed to combat the wrath of god. At 20000 gallons per drop, twice the amount of a DC-10, someone needs to get to the boneyard and revamp it. The retardant drops can be fatal to firefighters on the ground though: https://apnews.com/7b72b8c13e454d46ac5489cec4cdbc3c/Firefighter%E2%80%99s-death-caused-by-retardant-drop-from-747

The pilot and a supervisor flying ahead in a small guide plane led the giant modified Boeing 747 nearly into the trees on Aug. 13 because the pilots failed to recognize that there was a hill in the flight path, according to the Green Sheet report by the state’s firefighting agency. (The drops are planned for 300 feet; the hill shortened the altitude to 200'!)
Because of the near ground-level release, the retardant struck with such force it uprooted an 87-foot (27-meter) tree that fell on Matthew Burchett fatally, a 42-year-old battalion chief from Utah helping with the Mendocino Complex Fire north of San Francisco.
Another large tree was snapped by the force of nearly 20,000 gallons (75,700 liters) of liquid and three firefighters were injured, one seriously.