Giant Russian Water Air Tanker Still Ignored By US: "'Frankly, I'm outraged,' says Robinson. 'This has been going on over six years. The Forest Service has refused to allow this plane into this country for fire fighting. It's a modern aircraft, a four-engine jet. It covers an area the size of 12 football fields with one
10-second drop [of liquid v water or retardant]. It puts a fireline down 300 feet wide and 3,900 feet long in 10 seconds. It would have saved every community in Colorado and Arizona this year. It would have saved those 300 homes in Los Alamos two years ago.'
Robinson said that two years ago during the Cerro Grande fire near Los Alamos, EMERCOM had two planes sitting on the runway in Moscow, fully crewed, each plane having three eight-man crews, ready to take off. They had been requested by FEMA, but at the last minute, FEMA told them they weren't needed after all.
The Associated Press reported that then-District IX FEMA director Buddy Young went to the fire and publicly announced, 'You will not bring the Russian planes in here: We're not having any Russians coming here and fighting our fires.'
But in fact, Robinson pointed out, this has nothing to do with the IL-76 being Russian-made and owned.
The Canadians have their CL-215 tankers and CL-415 SuperScoopers. They developed the CL-215 v which Robinson considers superior to anything the United States has v in 1967, and they've been rebuffed by the Forest Service for 35 years.
'They have not been able to come in and compete for Forest Service contracts because they are not a private contractor association,' Robinson explains. 'They're part of the Canadian government. It's a quasi-private, public-private partnership, but the Forest Service does not want its contractors to face outside competition.'"
10-second drop [of liquid v water or retardant]. It puts a fireline down 300 feet wide and 3,900 feet long in 10 seconds. It would have saved every community in Colorado and Arizona this year. It would have saved those 300 homes in Los Alamos two years ago.'
Robinson said that two years ago during the Cerro Grande fire near Los Alamos, EMERCOM had two planes sitting on the runway in Moscow, fully crewed, each plane having three eight-man crews, ready to take off. They had been requested by FEMA, but at the last minute, FEMA told them they weren't needed after all.
The Associated Press reported that then-District IX FEMA director Buddy Young went to the fire and publicly announced, 'You will not bring the Russian planes in here: We're not having any Russians coming here and fighting our fires.'
But in fact, Robinson pointed out, this has nothing to do with the IL-76 being Russian-made and owned.
The Canadians have their CL-215 tankers and CL-415 SuperScoopers. They developed the CL-215 v which Robinson considers superior to anything the United States has v in 1967, and they've been rebuffed by the Forest Service for 35 years.
'They have not been able to come in and compete for Forest Service contracts because they are not a private contractor association,' Robinson explains. 'They're part of the Canadian government. It's a quasi-private, public-private partnership, but the Forest Service does not want its contractors to face outside competition.'"
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