CANADA:

Aircraft and Forest Fire Control in Canada

(IFFN No. 11 – July 1994)

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A pioneer in the use of aircraft for forest fire patrol, Canada has become a recognized world leader in the development of effective and cost-efficient ways of using aircraft for forest fire fighting. In recent years, several foreign countries with forest protection problems have either sent their personnel to Canada or hosted visits by our experts to learn how we use forest fire attack aircraft.

It’s now a little over 42 years since an Ontario Lands and Forests Beaver aircraft made the first recorded fire bombing attack in Canada, dropping water-filled paper bags on a fire north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Since then, federal, provincial and territorial forestry services, as well as private industry, have made a concentrated effort to determine how best to use the airplane, the most valuable single weapon in their firefighting arsenal.

There was a time when aircraft were considered so expensive, compared to other fire control methods, they were used only when all other measures had failed: a costly practice that did nothing to reduce fire losses. Now, forest fire fighters know the key to efficient fire suppression is rapid initial attack; hitting each potentially dangerous fire while it’s still small. It’s the aircraft’s ability to attack fast, hard and often, in the most difficult terrain, that makes it the fire fighter’s best initial attack resource.

Since the adoption of the initial attack concept in Canada, more fires are being controlled sooner and the area burned per fire is decreasing, hence most other negative effects of forest fires are also declining.

The Attack Aircraft

Our forest services use a wide range of forest protection aircraft including light single-engined planes for detection patrol, faster twin-engined types for air attack control and the ubiquitous helicopter for transportation, observation and fire bombing. But it’s the fixed-wing fire attack aircraft that represents the heavy artillery in the continuing war against fire.

Canada’s current fleet of fixed-wing attack aircraft consists of two types: scoopers and tankers. Scoopers are amphibians or floatplanes capable of scooping water “on the fly” from a lake or river near the fire, injecting a foam concentrate into the water load and dropping it on the fire as a smothering foam.

Scoopers can attack single or multiple fires for several hours at a time, scooping and dropping thousands of litres of water and foam as fast as they can shuttle to and from the nearest water. Tankers are land-based planes which carry fire-retardant chemicals to fires from mixing installations at strategically located airports.

The major deciding factor as to whether a particular region uses scoopers or tankers is the availability of scoopable water. Provinces with an abundance of lakes and rivers such as Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, use scoopers, while other jurisdictions including British Columbia, New Brunswick and the Yukon use tankers. Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories operate a mix of scoopers and tankers. P.E.I. doesn’t have firefighting aircraft of its own but borrows their services from neighbouring provinces when the situation demands.

In 1992, about 200 fixed-wing attack aircraft, ranging from 1,000-litre-capacity floatplanes to the mighty 20,000-litre-capacity Mars flying boat, and a similar number of helicopters, fought forest fires in Canada. Altogether they dropped about 200 million litres of water, foam and retardants. The mainstay of the scooper force is a fleet of 48 Canadair CL-215s, each carrying 5,350 litres, while the major portion of the tanker fleet is divided equally between the 4,500-litre B-26 and the 3,300-litre Firecat/Tracker.

Solving the Problem of Deployment 

There is no doubt that, when compared to other methods of controlling forest fires, aircraft are expensive to buy and operate, but when used effectively, they are fully capable of saving the equivalent of an entire season’s operating cost in a single mission by stopping one potentially disastrous fire. The perennial question facing the individual fire control officer is, however, which of several fires burning simultaneously in the region are potentially disastrous? 

How to pinpoint the most threatening fires and when and how best to use attack aircraft have been subjects of considerable research ever since the airplane arrived on the forest fire scene. The computer eventually provided researchers with the tool that enabled them to integrate the results of 50 years of studies into a fire behaviour model able to predict the direction and rate of spread of a fire. 

By applying more recent high-tech developments to fire management, researchers are now able to forecast, with remarkable accuracy, under what circumstances fires are most likely to occur. 

Today, sophisticated communication systems transmit weather forecasts and the degree of fire hazard twice daily to all forest centres across the country. Weather conditions in the forest are reported regularly by unmanned automatic weather stations. Storms are tracked by radar, and lightning strikes are plotted by lightning detectors. 

This information, combined in a computer program with the history of fire in the locality and the type and condition of the forest obtained from satellite remote sensing, helps the fire control officer predict where a fire is likely to start and how serious it could become. 

Armed with this intelligence, the control officer knows where and when to send out fire detection patrols. With the aid of the Global Positioning System (GPS) the pilot can determine the precise position of a fire and save precious minutes by guiding the air attack controller and fire attack aircraft directly to the scene. 

Another recent innovation provides the air attack controller with Forward Looking Infra-red Radar (FLIR) to see through smoke and locate targets and hazards for the attack aircraft. Similar airborne infrared scanning devices map large fires to help the ground attack boss plan strategy. Fire researchers are now using artificial intelligence to devise ways of forecasting resource needs and providing the fire control officer with a decision tool to help determine the resources to use and how best to deploy them. 

CIFFC and the National Air Tanker Fleet 

It is obvious the fire control officer is getting some much-needed help determining where and when to send available resources, but what does the officer do if all aerial resources are deployed and the situation is still not under control? This is where the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), the Mutual Air Resource Sharing Agreement (MARS), the CL-215 Cooperative Supply Agreement and the National Air Tanker Fleet enter the picture. Formed in 1982 and based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, CIFFC coordinates the MARS agreement between provinces and territories regarding the sharing of information and fire fighting equipment, personnel and aircraft. During the fire season, the Centre issues daily reports regarding fire situation and resource availability and controls the movement of elements of the National Air Tanker Fleet. The fleet consists of 17 Canadair CL-215s purchased by the Federal Government under the CL-215 cooperative Supply Agreement of September 1983. 

Under this agreement, developed by members of the Canadian Council of Resource and Environment Ministers concerned at the rapidly approaching obsolescence of fixed-wing fire attack aircraft, the federal and six provincial governments acquired a total of 29 CL-215s to supplement the 20 CL-215s already operated by Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba. 

The federally-owned fleet aircraft are leased to Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories for a period of 15 years. The lessee provinces are responsible for operating and maintaining them and making them available to other members, as directed by the Centre, when not required for higher priority situations in their own jurisdictions. Title to the aircraft will be transferred to the lessees when the leases expire. 

The problems usually accompanying equipment transfers between operating agencies are largely avoided in the case of fleet transfers because almost all regions have their own CL-215s and can rapidly integrate transferred aircraft into their operations; so rapidly in fact that, on occasion, visiting CL-215s have been directed to fires while still en route to the host destination. 

Further performance improvements to Canada’s scooper fleet have already begun with the introduction into service of the CL-215T, a turboprop-powered conversion of the piston-engined CL-215. The 215T reaches fires faster and drops over 25 per cent more suppressant in a typical three-hour mission. And fire fighting productivity will be further improved when, in 1994, Canadair begins delivering its CL-415, a new-generation amphibian carrying 15 percent more fire fighting load than its predecessors. 

Canada’s expertise in producing aircraft expressly for fire control is generating valuable export business. To date, Canadair has sold 102 CL-215s, 215T conversions and 415s to foreign customers: transactions worth, with spares and support, over $650 million. And Conair of Abbotsford, B.C., has sold or leases twenty Firecats and other tankers overseas and is presently developing a fire control centre and initial attack system for Mexico. Forest fire control in Canada has come a long way from being largely a matter of intuition and personal experience. Today, the growing list of achievements resulting from a combination of thorough research, imaginative planning and modern technology, while unlikely to ever win the war against fire, will certainly help turn many potential battles into minor skinnishes.

 

 

From: Ron Pickler
Address:
Bombardier Inc.
Canadair Amphibious Aircraft Division
P.O.Box 6087
CDN – Montreal, Quebec H3C 3G9

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Technology News

 

 

Firebird 2001 Fire Fighting ManagementSupport System

(IFFN No. 17 – July 1997)

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Every year, forest fires bring destruction, injury, and even death. The ability of forest fire incident managers to control fires quickly, thereby limiting the damage, is to a great extent dependent on their ability to gather information, to deploy resources, and to perform emergency evacuations efficiently.

The MALAT Division of Israel Aircraft Industries, using mature Remotely Operated Air Vehicle (ROA) (or Unmanned Air Vehicle [UAV]) technology, has developed the application described herein, which provides real-time information to fire management, greatly enhancing the ability to manage resources. The application also provide fire fighters alerts, emergency communications relay, and other features beneficial for improvement of cost effective and safe fire suppression.

Needs

Fire management decisions rely primarily on fire scenario information. Several factors serve to limit the ability of the incident manager to gain relevant information:

• Smoke over the fire area interferes with the ability to obtain comprehensive fire intelligence.
• The incident commander, in many cases, must personally fly over the fire area, thus leaving his management post.
• Using manned aircraft for flights over the fire area has certain limitations. Night flights are undesired for safety reasons, flight time is limited, and in-smoke flights are hazardous. Due to the consequent lack of information decisions are sometimes based on outdated information.
• Serious situations on the fire line often develop rapidly with very little prior notice. This makes it difficult to mobilize current intelligence gathering technology to assist the manager in making the necessary decisions in a timely manner.
• The quality of radio communications with fire fighting forces is sometimes very poor, especially in mountainous areas.

Furthermore, the safety and well being of all fire suppression resources on the fire line, as well as their ability to effectively battle the fire, depend on radio communications, contact with immediate supervisors, knowledge of their actual location on the fire line, and prediction of fire behavior. Using the currently available resources, radio communications are sometimes of poor quality, the contact with supervisors is hindered, knowledge of location is sometimes outdated, and the means to accurately predict fire behavior are limited.

Capabilities

The system which has been successfully demonstrated in Missoula, Montana, U.S.A., in October 1996, and is capable of the following: 

• Continuous real-time TV and FLIR (forward-looking Infrared) imagery of fire scenario, down-linked to the fire control center (day or night)
• Fire front line and hot spots overlaid on either a digital map or a smoke free pre-prepared aerial or satellite photo map (ortho-photo) enabling the incident commander to see the forest, houses, roads, railroads, etc.
• Print out of the fire map issued in real time
• Location of fire fighting forces overlaid on the same map or ortho-photo. This capability includes the display of fire-fighter’s emergency situation stress alarms (SOS) and their location coordinates.
• The display of direction and speed of wind (at the ROA/UAV flight level) and alarms about significant changes in wind direction and speed.
• The ability to identify (using the IR image) the location where retardants have been applied. By simply clicking his mouse on the digital map, the system automatically provides the next “drop” location coordinates.
• The ability to easily transfer (to any desired location) a full fire scenario image by modem.
• Spotting distance and burnt area calculations.
• Provide a map of fire intensity using different transparent colour shades on the fire map.
• Computation and designation of the speed at which the fire front line is progressing in the various perimeter locations, including prediction of the front line location for various periods (30 minutes, 1 hour, etc.), and prediction of the time it will take to reach a particular location.
• Continuous monitoring of fire fighting resources and fire behavior to provide alerts of dangerous blow-up conditions on the fire line and potential entrapment of fire fighters.
• Through integration of a terrain-passability software module, the fire manager can determine the optimal routes for the fire fighters and the time required for withdrawal of forces.
• Monitoring of two adjacent incidents by two ROA/UAVs simultaneously.
• Emergency airborne radio communications relay.
• In addition, the system includes the capability to function in a detection mode of operation, for early warning and suppression.

 

 

Fig.1. The Firebird 2001 during test flights in 1996

 

Prototype Capabilities and Features

The Civilian ROA/UAV System is structured to accept any of IAI/MALAT’s airborne platforms. Nevertheless, the two platforms especially suitable for civil applications and budgets are: 

• The Firebird 2001, a compact, low weight configuration, flight testing completed in October 1996, and
• The Heron, a long endurance, long range configuration capable of carrying a heavy payload with a demonstrated endurance of 52 straight flight hours.

 Both configurations share the same avionics, briefly described below.

The FIREBIRD 2001 (Compact) configuration: 

 

Engine D.H. 290, 23.5 HP Take Off Weight 140-150 kg Pay load weight 15-25 kg Fuel 19 kg Loiter endurance 5 hours Ceiling 15,000 ft Cruise speed 60 kts

 

The Heron (Long-range, long-endurance, heavy payload) Configuration: 100 flight hours, 15 flights, including 52 continuous flight hours

 

Engine Rotax 914, 100/115 HP Take Off Weight 1100 kg Payload weight 250 kg Fuel 250 kg Loiter endurance 40 hrs (with 250 kg fuel) Ceiling 35,000 ft Cruise speed 80 kts Power (electric) 4 kW

 

Common to both systems, special redundancy and BIT (Built In Test) provisions will enable a reliable, safe and simple operation of the system. The avionics package developed for any particular platform configuration can very easily be implemented on another platform configuration. Consequently the descriptions herein focus on the avionics capabilities of the prototype demonstration system, rather than on any particular aspect of the platform.

Avionics Features

• Redundancy for all system components other than the engine
• System architecture ensures the safe return home after a sub-system malfunction. The system architecture has been designed so that a malfunction of any one sub-system does not result in malfunction of any other sub-system
• GPS autonomous navigation enables better navigation accuracy than VOR transportation air traffic
• Day and night operation of system platform and payload
• Battery-power redundancy
• Central double (redundant) computer for flight control and communication management
• “Pilot camera” for “internal pilot” control
• BIT (Built In Test) for autonomous flight decisions
• Continuous wind direction and velocity computation
• Continuous status computation, return home decision capability (bingo) and pre-bingo alarm
• Time for next way-point computation
• Location of ROA/UAV continuously displayed on GCS digitized map
• “Camera control” flight mode enables direction control of camera to Point Of Interest with fixed angles (relative to airframe) while UAV automatically keeps consequent required flight conditions.
• Simple and easy operation of system
• Continuous ground record of flight parametres and camera data

 Some advantages of ROA/UAV use over other existing technologies

• Long endurance capability (Heron 52 continuous flight hours demonstrated)
• No risk to human life: Enables close approach to hazardous locations, such as:
  • Bad weather condition areas
  • Airspace with reduced visibility (heavy smoke)
  • Chemically polluted areas
  • Radioactively contaminated areas

• Long range capability (Heron – 700 miles to target, 20 Hour mission loiter, and return home)
• No human physiologic limitations
• Short runway requirements: 400 metre strip suitable for take-off and landings.

 For more technical information contact:

 

 

Mr. Uzi Zurgil
Applications Manager
Civil UAV
MALAT Division
Ben Gurion International Airport
70100 Israel

Fax: ++972-3-9355222
Tel: ++972-3-9355970/7
e-mail: uzurgil@iai.co.il

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Technology News