Nelson Bay/Port Stevens fires

[gordon_s1942]

I was watching those fires specifically in that area and thinking of our esteemed Member PhilQuad who by previous postings lives in that area I believe.
There have been NO reports of general property damage or injuries which is great news.

Many Years I ago went up mt (small m as its a small mountain) Gang Gang and saw it had been burnt totally black by a bushfire only a few weeks previously.
The whole area from its base to the North had been razed.

Where ever you are Phil, I hope you and all those in that very beautiful surrounding area are safe and sound

[bob_m_54]

The Saltash fire came within 1Km of me last night. We had one neighbour sleep over because her house was closer to the bush than ours.

Have a look on hear, and zoom in to port stephens, just north of newcastle, then zoom in on the saltash fire, The big black bit on the yellow tag. I live in Tanilba Bay.



I'd post up a pic, but seems to have changed on here, for posting pics.

[bob_m_54]

They had it fairly well knocked down last night, but then the winds picked up and now they have upgraded from watch and act to emergency warning again. Poor bloody chopper pilots trying to water bomb in this wind.

[george65]

How come hen you see footage of aerial water bombing by chopper or plane, they never show the water hitting the fire and how well it knocks it out?
If you search hard you can find a scarce few clips but I'm beginning to wonder how effective it really is or if the media just think the Money shot is the water falling rather than the fire getting knocked down?

[lsemmens]

What they want is one of these:

[bob_m_54]

That sucker would have washed us away. LOL

[gordon_s1942]

You must remember with a fixed wing aircraft is WHERE do you get the water from to fill it ?
Canada as a massive Flying boat set up as a Water Bomber and it skims across the water to load up and drops where required.
This is excellent PROVIDED you have a large enough area to land on, deep enough scoop up and are within close range to be effective.
A helicopter can drop a bucket into a nearby pond,dam or swimming pool to fill up and because of its ability to hover, drop the water in a very small area.
Each has their Pro's and Con's and do their best.
Several years ago during a nasty fire that broke out in a very narrow 'Gully' (500m wide ) with 250 metres sides, I watched a flotilla of Helicopters fight a blaze because they were able to fill, fly and dump a bucket of water pulled from a natural pond every 7 minutes in smokey conditions no fixed wing aircraft could fly safely.

[george65]

I was at a Dressage Competition once. I had a blue and white striped umbrella Hose clamped to a metal pole and that clamped to the chair for shade. I was well back from the spectator boundary, even behind the Judges vehicle but the organiser of the event came and asked me as nice as she could if I would mind putting my umbrella down when a rider came along because they were particularly troublesome and had complained about me sitting there being a distraction. I was assured I was doing nothing wrong ( and had been there a couple of hours) but this pain in the arse would give them grief as she had before and it would make things so much simpler if I could possibly help the orgniser out and just put it down for the 3 Min she was on the arena.

I said sure and when the rider came up I folded the chair and laid it with the umbrella behind the Judges car so it was completely out of site and stood next to the organiser.
Probably 25 sec into the whingers ride, the Erickson water bomber came swooping over the hill and Hovered about 100M away picking up water that was in a dam behind bushes. Could feel the prop wash from the thing and was looking at the whites of the pilots eyes as he came in then took off again. Got some awesome pics of the thing.

Of course Pedantic rider comes off the arena at the end of her ride and is going off her tits about the chopper to the judges and organiser demanding another ride.
She lodged a protest which held up the day while it was heard ( and cost her money) but it was over turned as the rules state that everything that happens outside the arena is inconsequential and riders are required to concentrate on what they are doing. Well known that if a Kid runs onto the arena or an umbrella blows across you get another go but if it's outside the boundary... Tough.

The chopper came over at least half a dozen times that day and in the greatest irony of all, the person that won the day also had the chopper fly in during their ride which killed any further protest the pain in the arse had. Very fitting karma for the one always looking for excuses.

Hard to claim you had a disadvantage when the person that won the event had the exact same thing happen to them.

[bob_m_54]

Gordon, we have a RAAF base/Airport within a couple of Km of here, and a bloody big body of water nearby to boot, so it would work well here. Actually, they were using a small fixed wing aircraft to drop water, but don't ask me what type it was.

[lsemmens]

Given the proximity of most of our bushland to the coast. Sea Water is rather plentiful. (Just don't tell the greenies where they got it from)

[Reschs]

I do believe the planes require still water for the pick up.
Rough water, Lake or Ocean, is a no go.

[lsemmens]

You may well be correct in that Reschs, of that I am uncertain.

[bob_m_54]

They use both the bay, and Grahamstown dam here, probably not if it was very windy though.

[gordon_s1942]

Bob, I am aware of your area but move back from the Lakes that extend along the coast in your area and water in volumes becomes a bit 'light on'.
There are 3 large (Power Station)Dams here that could support the landing of a Fixed wing medium sized aircraft in good clear conditions but unfortunately the conditions around a fire are often less than suitable which is where the helicopter can perform so much better.
Being able to fly in at an almost brisk walking pace rather than 160kph must be considered a huge advantage when the area is rough and smoke covered.

[hoe]

Anyone heard from Phil ?
He's in Nelson bay somewhere....

Sent from my CLT-L29 using Tapatalk

[bob_m_54]

They had a small fire on one of the headlands (all bushland) east of Shoal Bay. So if he's at Nelson Bay, he might have seen the smoke, in the distance.

[mtv]

Anyone heard from Phil ?
He's in Nelson bay somewhere....

He posted in the forums this afternoon at 4.25 and he's logged on now, so I guess he's OK.

[george65]

Got an email from a mate a while ago. He's up near Grafton. Said the fireys had come and told him the fire there was out of control and heading his way. He's decided to stay and fight. His place is well cleared from the bush and he's been there before with fires. I could imagine fighting a fire in the day would be scary, at night could only be worse. Pretty disturbing to hear this, have to admit it's rattled me a bit.
Won't sleep tonight worrying about him.