[pct-l] Honey Bee WFU Fire

[Amanda L Silvestri]

So is anyone doing anything about this fire besides watching it? 
   
  This brings up one of my pet peeves.  Why can't the Air National Guard be trained and equipped to fight forest and wild fires?  It seems to me that there are far too few firefighting helicopters and tanker aircraft available in the west.  Living in Southern California, I watch every year as it takes sometimes weeks or even months to put a fire down, one tanker drop  at a time, or maybe two or three if it is a relay big fire or near expensive property.  
   
  Why not do saturation bombing strikes with water or fire retardant?  Can't you just see it now?  A squadron or even a whole wing of planes flying in formation or in waves, hitting a fire with enough red stuff to change the color of the forest.  Hay, I can live with red trees for a while, better than burned trees.  
   
  Helicopters could be rigged to carry large amounts of water and be equipped with water canons like on a fire truck.  Imagine ten of those birds lined up firing in unison at the fire line, holding up the advancement of the fire, maybe even pushing it backwards while the bombers snuff it out.  Then ground crews move in and turn the soil and get the last bits. 
   
  Much acreage would be saved as well as the lives of many of our brave firefighters.  Fires could be put out quickly and the cost, although high at first, as with any start-up project, would pay for itself in only a summer or two.  Now that's something I wouldn't mind paying my taxes for.
   
  Amanda