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California Needs The DC-10 For The Coming Mega Wildfires. 3/30/2009 |
| The state of California's severe 2009 budget crisis has motivated the Legislative |
| Analyst's Office (LAO) in Sacramento to suggest cancelling the current CAL FIRE |
| contract for the wildfire suppression support of the DC-10 air-tanker. This would |
| seriously weaken CAL FIRE's ability to deal with the large fires that have been |
| increasing throughout the state. The small saving would expose the state to potentially |
| horrific home and other resource losses, as in 2003, 2007, and 2008 |
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Wildfire Fighting In America At A Crossroads! 3/9/2009 |
| A 28-page briefing was prepared to update WRN's assessment of wildfire control |
| capabilities in the U.S. which are approaching a very critical period. Very damaging |
| wildfires are on the increase, needed changes are slow in coming, and budget squeeze |
| forces are impacting all government decisions. A focused research and development |
| program and a new federal wildfire lead agency with a strong voice in the national |
| budget forum are WRN's recommended high priorities. |
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Funding For Aerial Operations. 2/19/2009 |
| WRN was invited to present a paper at the International Aerial Firefighting Convention |
| in Anaheim, California, arranged by Tangent-Link Corporation in the United Kingdom |
| (England). The eleven page document illustrates and summarizes the trends in wildfire |
| funding and the issues that affect it, current shortfalls, and a recommendation for how |
| to get the fire agencies a stronger voice to obtain adequate budgets for their pressing needs. |
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The Time Has Come For Wildfires To Be Fought From The Air At Night. 10/19/2005 |
| This press release presents the case for expanding use of night-vision goggles (NVG) |
| into the wildfire fighting aerial arsenal. Many fires 'lay down' some at night and |
| become easier to control. Three local firefighting agencies in Southern California have |
| already accumulated several years of safe and effective aerial night operations using the |
| latest FAA-approved certified NVG technologies and operating procedures. |
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Wildfire Research Network Congressional Testimony: 12/10/2007 |
| This is the documentation WRN submitted to the Congressional Domestic |
| Policy Subcommittee (chaired by Dennis Kucinich) in Fallbrook, CA on 12/10/07. |
| This Subcommittee hearing was convened in the San Diego Region following the |
| devastating wildfires that swept through that area in October 2007 to address |
| technical, financial, and administrative issues. |
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Can We Save Lives, Property, and Dollars Too?! 2/19/2004 |
| WRN (as its parent organization, Aerial Fire Protection Associates) |
| produced a 36-page assessment of the wildfire suppression capabilities within |
| California and recommendations for the future after the Southern California |
| wildfire siege of October 2003, submitted to the Governor's Blue Ribbon Fire |
| Commission convened shortly afterward. It covers a wide range of subjects |
| still relevant today, with some updated information for persons interested |
| in a broad view of wildfire control issues. |
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Press Release: Supertankers Now For California: 4/19/2007 |
| This press release presents the testimony of WRN delivered to the California |
| Assembly Subcommittee #3 in Sacramento on March 14, 2007 to support California's |
| contracting for the use of a DC-10 airtanker as a part of its aerial firefighting fleet. |
| It presents the argument for a seasonal contract as opposed to a Call When Needed |
| contract and its expected cost-effectiveness when using this type of contract. |
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Supertankers Now! Presentation |
| Addressing the wildfire peril facing California, the West and other parts of the U.S. |
| due to the trend of increasing numbers and intensities of wildfires and the |
| diminishing fleet of USFS heavy air-tankers, Wildfire Research Network assembled |
| this presentation to identify the need, issues and potential benefits of adding newly |
| offered high capacity air-tankers with drop capabilities greater than 3,000 gallons |
| to the firefighting arsenal. |
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Airborne Integrated GIS System |
| A briefing was prepared to illustrate the need, benefits, and characteristics of a |
| helicopter platform being developed in the Los Angeles City Fire Department |
| that has unique capability to sprint to the scene of a wildfire, or other large |
| scale emergency or homeland security risk event to provide the incident commander, |
| whoever he is, with real time, high-resolution video and IR imagery and mapping |
| with superimposed GIS information needed to assess the situation and immediately |
| assign closest resources to where they are needed. The system has the potential |
| to reduce the resource assessment and assignment time from several hours to 30 |
| minutes or less dependent on the helicopter flight response time. |
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