Bombardier Aerospace: Canadair 415 Offers the Most
Effective Way to Combat Wildfires
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--JUNE 29, 2000--The arrival of Canada's annual wildfire season
highlights the value of modern firefighting strategies - including
rapid initial attack - to protect the safety of human, natural and
business resources.
In many countries and most parts of Canada, the initial attack
firefighting weapon of choice is the world's only purpose-built
amphibious waterbomber, the Canadair 415(R).
When the alarm sounds, the Canadair 415 is dispatched immediately
to attack the fire while it is in its initial stages. By
delivering more than 100,000 litres of water and fire-suppressing
foam in an hour,assuming a distance of 3 km between the fire and
the nearest lake, the Canadair 415 provides a quick and massive
strike that knocks down the fire so that initial attack fire crews
can safely attack the fire and put it out while still small.
Unlike conventional air tankers used in firefighting, the Canadair
415 doesn't have to land and refill its tanks after every drop.
Instead, the aircraft simply skims the surface of any suitable
body of water and scoops a full load (approximately 6,000 litres)
in just 12 seconds. In August 1999 an Ontario 415 fighting a fire
near Geraldton, Ontario established a new waterbombing record,
delivering 97 loads of water and foam in just over 3.2 hours. The
aircraft's daily tally later climbed to 167 drops totalling 600
tonnes (600,000 litres) of water and foam.
Said Tom Appleton, president, Bombardier Aerospace, Amphibious
Aircraft, "A few aircraft can drop more water in a single load but
none can match the Canadair 415's overall productivity. That
comes from being designed specifically for firefighting.
Conventional tanker aircraft have been converted from other uses,
typically military and commercial transports. These aircraft have
provided good service but they don't offer the same capability and
when lives, property and valuable resources are at stake, you want
the most effective equipment available.
The importance of a strong and decisive initial attack is
highlighted by the recent project fires near Los Alamos, New
Mexico."
Jack Mc Fadden, director of aviation, fire and flood management
for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources explained the
initial attack concept: "The idea is simply to prevent little
fires from getting out of control and becoming big ones. That
means responding quickly with an effective, integrated air and
ground attack as soon as a fire is discovered and delivering a
substantial counterpunch.
"The cost of fighting a large, escaped fire - known as a project
fire - is absolutely huge and so is the value of the natural and
other resources lost in a big fire. These values make it highly
cost-efficient to use the Canadair 415 for initial attack: in
support of ground firefighters," he said.
The Canadair 415 is the new-generation version of an aircraft that
first saw service in the late 1960s, the Canadair 215. Ontario
currently operates nine Canadair 415 aircraft and Quebec has
eight. The aircraft is also in service around the Mediterranean,
in France (11), Italy (13), Croatia (three) and Greece (three in
service, seven on order). In addition, southern California's Los
Angeles County leases aircraft from Quebec for its fall fire
season, fighting fires driven by the strong and dry Santa Ana
winds. These fires devastated parts of the region in 1993,
destroying hundreds homes and causing damage estimated at hundreds
of millions of dollars. Quebec's aircraft have also been operated
under lease in Arkansas and North Carolina in the United States
and in Portugal, Mexico and Argentina.
More than 72 of the earlier, piston-powered Canadair 215 aircraft
remain in service, including 33 in Canada: Newfoundland (6),
Quebec (4), Manitoba (7), Saskatchewan (6), Alberta (6) and NWT
(4).
One of the aircraft's earliest customers, the Spanish Air Force,
has achieved a milestone 100,000 flight hours with the aircraft;
it now operates Canadair aircraft converted to turbine power and
designated Canadair 215T.
In addition to delivering a powerful initial attack on wildfires
in remote and urban-interface areas, the Canadair 415 has proven
itself a capable performer in other firefighting applications. In
mid-August 1999, a Greek 415 was deployed to regain control of a
large-scale refinery fire at Izmet, Turkey following the massive
earthquake there that destroyed more than 600,000 buildings and
claimed more than 30,000 victims.
The roles of the Canadair 415 are not limited to fire fighting.
The aircraft's ability to fly at low speed and low altitude with
great manoeuvrability and to land on water also make it an ideal
aircraft for search and rescue, coastal patrol and transport to
remote areas, particularly in Canada where lakes and rivers
abound.
Said Mr. Appleton, "There simply isn't another aircraft that can
do so much, so quickly. Speed of response is critical and time
lost is the worst enemy."
Bombardier Aerospace, a unit of Bombardier Inc., is the leading
business, regional and amphibious aircraft manufacturer. With
full design and production capabilities in three countries, it
offers the most comprehensive families of turboprop and regional
jet aircraft and the widest range of business jets. It also
provides the Flexjet fractional business aircraft ownership
program, technical services, aircraft maintenance and pilot
training for business, regional airline and military customers.
Bombardier Inc., a diversified manufacturing and service company,
is a world leading manufacturer of business jets, regional
aircraft, rail transportation equipment and motorized recreational
products. It is also a provider of financial services and asset
management. The Corporation employs 56,000 people in 12 countries
in North America, Europe and Asia, and more than 90 per cent of
its revenues are generated outside Canada. Bombardier's revenues
for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2000, totalled Cdn$13.6
billion.
(R) Registered trademarks of Bombardier Inc.
Note to editors:
Last year, due to mild temperatures and comparatively light
snowfall, most of Canada experienced an unusually extended
wildfire season that began in late April and continued into
September, according to The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire
Centre (CIFFC) in Winnipeg.
In the early part of the season, particularly in Ontario and
Manitoba, fire managers faced unseasonably warm, dry conditions.
When confronted by the many human-caused fires early in the
season, CIFFC was required to locate and mobilize large numbers of
professional firefighters to augment provincial resources not yet
up to full strength.
Northern portions of Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Territories
remained warm and dry well into August, and many fires escaped
initial attack measures. One fire escaped containment efforts
near La Ronge (in north-central Saskatchewan) and destroyed 10
homes and a number of commercial installations. Total 1999
interface fire losses in Saskatchewan amounted to more than $2.2
million, the highest in Canada.
Despite the difficult start and the extended length of the 1999
fire season, Canadian losses nationally were down, compared to
10-year averages: 7,591 fires (a 15-per cent decrease), and 1.7
million hectares (a 49-per cent decrease).
Early predictions for the 2000 fire season saw continuing warm,
dry conditions, with little snow cover from the previous winter. |
