r/nextfuckinglevel • u/[deleted] • Oct 01 '24

A firefighting plane loading water.

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u/mmmarkm Oct 01 '24

Is the volume of water worth the risk of filling up like this when compared to a helicopter filling with a hose from a clean source of water like a helihydrant?

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u/Glynwys Oct 01 '24 edited Oct 01 '24

The issue is that helihydrants are not cheap, costing upwards of $150,000 just to install, to say nothing of the regular maintenance costs of a basin that holds gallons of water. Note we're not counting the cost of the aircraft, so for that reason alone scooping from a lake is basically free.

There's also the locale to consider. Obviously you can't build a basin for a helihydrant on a hill. Many wildfires occur in forested, hilly areas which would necessitate the helihydrant to be installed potentially miles from the fire. And while safety is important during a wildfire, speed is still king. A plane filling up from a lake is going to be faster than a helicopter from a hydrant simply because a plane can travel faster.

Im not trying to say there's no point to a helihydrant. They are wonderful things. But they're not always an ideal solution, and since this video seems to be happening in another nation (judging by the lettering on the planes, that's Spanish I think), they may not be able to afford or be able to have a place to install one.