VIDEO: Following a hot, dry season across Colorado – the still-burning Aspen Acres fire became the seventh-largest wildfire in state history over the summer – fire danger remains a threat in the state.
That’s part of why the State of Colorado Center of Excellence for Advanced Technology Aerial Firefighting (COEATAF) is pursuing a sky-high modernization of aerial attacks.
The typical aerial attack is low-altitude, executed by a helicopter or aircraft flight crew that drops water or red-colored retardant directly onto a wildland fire, sometimes repeatedly and over the course of hours or days.
The drops are often conducted at approximately 500 feet above ground, or lower, meaning weather, terrain and other conditions can rapidly change how teams are able – if at all – to fight fires from above.
“It can be too dark, too smoky, too windy, things like those,” said COEATAF Director Ben Miller. “We call that the denied environment. Those are places where fire exists, but we can’t get there.”
KUSA-TV NBC 9 Denver
The post Colorado agency tests new aerial water-delivery system to aid in wildland firefighting efforts appeared first on Daily Dispatch.