Australia - Home of the Wildfire

Bretrick

Bretrick

Well-known Member
Location
Perth Western Australia
The heartbreaking bushfire burning in The Grampians (National Park) Victoria has grown to 74,000 hectares 182,000 acres.
Larger than the island of Singapore.
More than 600 firefighters had sacrificed their family time at Christmas, to work on the fire and protect homes.
"There's a really big fire edge, it's about 338 kilometres - 210 miles, in fire edge. It's massive."




Huge fires create their own weather that can lead to thunderstorms 'pyrocumulonimbus clouds'. The official name for them is 'flammagenitus', but they're also known as fire-generated thunderstorms.
The Grampians Pyrocumulonimbus cloud
 

Looks like they're going to need to upscale the aircraft, like this DC-10. Tanker 912.



DC-10-tanker.jpeg


DC%2010%20Retardant%20Drop%20_0.jpg


This B-17 was typical of the retardant planes of my firefighting era in the 1980's. They often had 2 of their 4 prop engines swapped out w modern jet engines. Typically flying in only under prop power and after the drop firing the jets to avoid terrain on the way out.

170f196700c653af41c250b203991baf.jpg
 
againstthegrain said:
Looks like they're going to need to upscale the aircraft, like this DC-10. Tanker 912.



DC-10-tanker.jpeg


DC%2010%20Retardant%20Drop%20_0.jpg


This B-17 was typical of the retardant planes of my firefighting era in the 1980's. They often had 2 of their 4 prop engines swapped out w modern jet engines. Typically flying in only under prop power and after the drop firing the jets to avoid terrain on the way out.

170f196700c653af41c250b203991baf.jpg
Click to expand...
Certainly crazy using such small planes to drop water on the flames. Totally ineffective.
Large firefighting planes have been purchased but are yet to arrive.
 
Some time ago I did a university course in botany that specialised in Australian vegetation. Two things stood out. One was that Australia is the hottest, driest continent on the planet. The second was that Australian native plants have adapted to these conditions and some species actually need fire for the seeds to crack open and germinate.

It is the native animals that suffer most from these mega fires, koalas in particular.
 
Warrigal said:
Some time ago I did a university course in botany that specialised in Australian vegetation. Two things stood out. One was that Australia is the hottest, driest continent on the planet. The second was that Australian native plants have adapted to these conditions and some species actually need fire for the seeds to crack open and germinate.

It is the native animals that suffer most from these mega fires, koalas in particular.
Click to expand...
Trees and plants have evolved with fire and there are many, many adaptations. For example Lodgepole Pines, Pinus contorta , have serotinus cones which require the heat of a fire to open and disperse the seeds. They become the first tree species growing in burnt over areas where they are present.
 
againstthegrain said:
Trees and plants have evolved with fire and there are many, many adaptations. For example Lodgepole Pines, Pinus contorta , have serotinus cones which require the heat of a fire to open and disperse the seeds. They become the first tree species growing in burnt over areas where they are present.
Click to expand...
The seeds of many Australian plants, even the biggest trees, are quite tiny. They have very tough external covering that is impervious to water. They are produced every year and build up in the soil and leaf litter beneath the trees.
When a hot fire sweeps through*, the outer covering cracks open and when the next rain falls the embryonic plant begins to grow. If the canopy has been burnt away, the seedlings have the sunlight they need to replace the old stand.

* The fire must be hot. Controlled burns do not trigger seed germination.
 

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